Incredible India monthly contest of September #2| Inner peace or outer Joy!

Greetings, Steemians!!!. This month's Incredible India Contest intrigued me to have a heart-to-heart conversation with myself. I took time to reflect on both sides of this topic, and here is my humble take.

A shot of me choosing INNER PEACE
Source:Google pixel

What is your preference, inner peace or outer joy?
Choose one with rationale?

Huh! I'll choose INNER PEACE over a million times. Inner peace, I must say, is the mother of outer joy, i.e., it births or rather yields outer joy. If your inner mind isn't at rest, your outer self can't bear or envelop joy in one piece. Let me highlight a scenario as a student, where I find myself mingling, chatting, and laughing, but in my innermost mind are burdens of financial struggles, thoughts of the next meal for the day, societal and family pressures, predictions on how to become a better version of my future self, and even thoughts on how to prepare ahead of deadlines for assignments and tests. I realize with each passing day this pressure and these struggles are easing down; I feel peace with my inner self, and this is where the realest of all joy appears.

Do you believe anyone can achive outer joy but not inner peace?Justify!

Oh yes, this is without a doubt!. I am a witness to this acclamation. There were days I had to fake a smile outside just to hold back the pains inside. I would even give a fake reply of "I'm fine" to the question "How are you?" meanwhile I was not really fine. Sometimes, I'll even appear as a comforter or cheerleader to others in pain, while I bear an unresolved battle with my mind too. Outer joy without inner peace is a camouflage to make oneself happy. I never will call it the real joy. It is a joy acted on with pretense. True joy comes from the inside of us.

A shot of me expressing outer joy while chatting with a friend

Share some lessons related to the above two!

Here are a few life lessons I've learned in the long run while experiencing inner peace and outer joy:

1. You can never express joy so easily and freely when your inner mind is suffering.

2. Always be willing to let go of what will deprive you of your joy and peace.
   No one can give you both of these for free except YOU.

3. When you are still, your mind will know peace.The most important thing is inviting God into solving anything that could be a disturbance or anything that causes you pain.
   Making reference to the scriptures (Mark 4:39), I remembered when Jesus said these words to the storm: PEACE BE STILL.
   This is always my consolation for every storm I face.

@mayjay
Source:Edited on AI Gallery from Tecno Pop5

Thank you for reading, Steemians. I hope we learn to choose peace in all that comes our way.

I appreciate @manuelhooks for the invite to this contest.
And I'm inviting @nsisong022, @annydee01, and @freshgrace to give their own feedback on this contest topic.