At the start of this month, I wrote about making room for Peace. Midway through April, I wrote about protecting it when life and other people begin pressing in again. Today, I want to stay with the next part of that progression.
What changes when Peace is no longer something you reach for only when you are overwhelmed, hurt, or in need of repair? What changes when it begins to influence the way you move through an ordinary day?
Certain moments are charged. An email lands with a tone that triggers you. A conversation leaves behind more upset than clarity. A decision demands an answer before you have had time to think it through. Even now, there are times when I react too quickly. I stay in the energy of a moment longer than it deserves.
That is what I want to talk about.
Peace earns its place in your life not only in prayer, reflection, or retreat. Its deeper value comes when the day is full and something in you still chooses not to rush toward the loudest feeling in the room.
I have come to see that one of the most meaningful things Peace gives you is a little more time between what happens and what you do next. That may sound small. In real life, it can change everything. It can save a relationship from a reply you will regret, a workday from an unnecessary spiral, and you from spending hours inside a feeling that does not deserve that much emotional real estate.
This is about no longer treating every feeling as a command. A first reaction may be real, even justified. Still, it is not always the wisest part of you. Peace helps you stay with yourself long enough to notice the difference.
That is where response begins to mature. You answer from your values rather than your agitation. When you pause long enough, you can ask whether the next move belongs to your best self or merely to your most activated self.
Dramatic reactions and fast defenses can look powerful for a moment. If you pause, Peace lets you stay present without becoming consumed. It lets you remain honest without handing the moment over to emotion. You get to hold your ground instead.
Over time, you notice that fewer things set you off. You recover more quickly. You leave less damage behind in moments that once would have run away with you. This has absolutely been the case in my life. Peace stops being a place you visit after the fact.
PHOTO OP + ACTION OPPORTUNITY
A Peace Practice: Let the First Wave Pass
Photo Credit: Luis Quintero
Personal Reflection
This reflection, inspired by the practices in Take a Shot at Happiness, helps you notice how Peace influences the choices you make and the life you are creating.
Think of a moment from this past week when you felt irritated, disappointed, pressured, or hurt. Notice what was your first impulse. Was it to reply immediately, explain, defend, withdraw, or prove a point?
Now return to that same moment and picture yourself giving it space. Maybe you took a deep breath, went for a walk, or slept on it.
Write a few lines about what may have changed if you had let the first wave pass before deciding what came next. There is useful information in that reflection. You begin to see where Peace already lives in you.
Photo Op
Capture an image that holds a sense of calm even as life moves around it. Let the image reflect the kind of Peace that stays with you in the middle of real life.
Action Opportunity
Look at your photo and reflect on where life is asking for a different response from you. Write a few lines about what shifts when you give yourself a moment before reacting. Save it in the Take a Shot at Happiness App with your image.
Keep exploring ⬇️
I am continuing to explore Peace through my Best Holistic Life article, a podcast conversation, transformational travel journeys, and the Take a Shot at Happiness App. My hope is that each one supports your wholebeing in mind, body, and spirit and helps you come back to yourself with greater care and intention.
Sojourn Explorers
Wellbeing Travel Experiences
My Sojourn Explorers journeys bring the month’s reflection on Peace into the world around you. Each guided journey includes access to my online course, Take a Shot at Happiness: A Happiness Explorer’s Journey — a $997 value.
Travel gives you room to notice how Peace affects the way you think, choose, and respond. In a setting that invites reflection, you begin to see your life with fresh eyes. You return home with both memories and a clearer sense of how you want to live.
Photo Credit: The Dwarika's Collection
Take a Shot at Happiness Retreat:
Dwarika’s Collection, Nepal
Dec 8 – 14th, 2026 | Group Size: 16 Seekers | Inquire Here
Nepal opens the day with mountain light and closes it with ritual. Prayer flags move across the sky. Bells carry through the distance. The atmosphere itself invites presence.
Your days move through sacred sites, meaningful pauses, shared meals, and time to take in what is around you. You may walk temple grounds, sit with monks, or simply notice how different life feels when urgency falls away.
After a few days, you may notice that Peace is no longer something you are thinking about. You are living inside it.
Practices are woven into the journey through reflection, photography, ritual, silence, and guided inquiry. These experiences help you notice what restores you, what supports you, and what deserves more space in your life. You return home with more than memories. You return with perspective, personal practices, and a deeper connection to Peace that can continue long after the journey ends.
While you sort through your closets and clear out the clutter for spring cleaning, my April Best Holistic Life article will help you with another kind of cleaning worth noticing — one that happens in how you think and react.
As a guest on PsychCentral's podcast Inside Mental Health,Maria shares how her experiences on the hit reality series “Survivor” made her realize she needed to strip back negativity. She emphasizes that following the practical activities from her book, while focusing on the Happiness Essentials — like Peace — can make a person’s life feel more intentional.
These reflections are part of Take a Shot at Happiness — a living exploration of how we think, feel, and choose our way through life. They sit alongside my work designing Sojourn Explorers journeys, where the same values are experienced through place, presence, and meaningful travel.
Sign up for Maria Baltazzi’s Take a Shot at Happiness newsletter for practical ways to bring more happiness and meaning into your life. An award-winning author and happiness explorer, Maria shares science-backed tools to shift unproductive thoughts, stay inspired, and grow in fulfilling ways. Her book, Take a Shot at Happiness, has won multiple awards, including the Independent Press, NYC Big Book, and Nautilus Book Awards. She uniquely integrates camera phone photography and journaling as tools for self-reflection and personal growth. Each issue offers insightful advice, uplifting quotes, and simple ways to enhance your wellbeing. Join a community that values purpose, creativity, and happiness.
