How well are you doing at maintaining inner peace & sense of hope in the face of this busy, noisy, seeming-dark world?
Patanjali, the great yoga sage, addressed this issue with his students about 2,000 years ago, teaching:
Be friendly with happy people,
Have compassion for the unhappy
Cultivate equanimity towards the wicked
Yoga Sutra 1:33
It’s easy enough to be friends with happy people & to find compassion for those who are suffering. Harder to maintain equanimity towards those who lie & cheat for their own benefit.
Equanimity, mind you: this is not about ignoring bad deeds or condoning immoral behaviour, but maintaining inner balance in the face of it, even as you fight against, or reject it.
Inner balance will help you to stay buoyant & hopeful in difficult times, will lower your stress levels, improve your sleep & increase your energy & resilience. Knowing how to condemn wrong action from a place of calm, energised stability? That’s real strength.