<<<Back to the Advent Calendar
Peace Goals!
I think the language used in social media is really interesting. A key element of a successful social media post is the title. It has to be something short and catchy. One of the things that I have noticed lately is the use of the word “GOALS” on Instagram, Twitter, and blog posts titles. It is a thing. 🙂 It’s often used when the writer is signaling, in a slightly humorous way, that they are working toward or achieving some major objective.
Articles with titles like “ Lipstick Goals” about being on a mission for complementary lipstick colors; or “ Shopping Goals” about planning the ultimate Mall of America trip strike me as being funny. But, that is what makes it good for catching attention in social media. Thus, the title for this post: Peace Goals!
How in the world can peace and goals go together? Here is a way. Meaningful goals, whether we are talking about being on a mission for a great red lipstick or enjoying peace in Advent, are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. The key to developing a peaceful spiritual practice is being intentional, faithful, and patient with ourselves.
Start with one small goal and think about how you might practically put it into practice. For example, maybe you find listening to Advent hymns a really helpful way to find some peace and focus on the meaning of Christmas. Listening to more of this type of music during Advent could be a doable goal .if you implement a practical plan. Below is an example of how to turn that idea into a Peace Goal! I call it a Prayerfully SMART approach.
First: Pray. St. Benedict tells us that everything we do should begin with prayer. So if you are wanting to cultivate peace dedicate your efforts to the glory of God and ask Him to Bless your efforts and to help you. Ask Go’d Help is coming up with a plan that you can faithfully do.
Make it Specific: Let’s say you want to listen to Advent Hymns during your lunch break during the workweek. Good start!
Make it Measurable: Next identify how often you can listen to music. Let’s say, you want to do this twice a week during the work week until Christmas. Super.
Make it Achievable. To make this achievable do some preparation. Load up some Advent/Christmas Hymns on your phone. Check out iTunes, or Amazon music for downloads and have your music selections ready to go.
Make it Relevant. Pick out music that is meaningful to you. It could be from Hillsong, Amy Grant, Points of Grace, St. John’s College Choir or other traditional music. This album by some Benedictine Nuns is beautiful. No affiliate links here, friends, just examples of music you can find online. The ones that I have linked from Amazon stream for free if you have a Prime account. The key is finding something that is enjoyable, meaningful and supports your goal for peace. I really like (not kidding) Eminem. But the music linked above would better fit my peace goals in this example.
Make it Time-based. Pick an amount of time that you are willing to spend on your listening sessions. Often music recordings last for 3-5 minutes. Perhaps you want to commit to listening to and meditating on one song. Or, you could set aside 10-15 minutes depending on how much time you get for a lunch break.
I suggest that you aim for something simple. It is always better to complete one small thing with great love than to set up a plan that is not achievable and that causes frustration. That would defeat the purpose of the activity, wouldn’t it? Once you are in a groove you can always add more days to listen. You can add or substitute other goals around writing encouraging Christmas notes to loved ones, reading daily psalms or bible passages before bedtime, or baking cookies for shut-ins or elderly neighbors.
With that, dear ones, you have set up Peace Goals!
May God’s peace be with you every day this Advent,
+The Anglican Anchoress