This is episode 2,174 of the Daily Meditation Podcast.

I'm Mary Meckley and I welcome you back to our series.

We are on day two of a theme we're exploring this week.

We are exploring peace on Earth.

These times we're living don't seem so peaceful, but peace is all around you.

And that's exactly what your affirmation meditation will have you repeating. Peace is all around me. You have a challenge this week goes right along with the theme.

Your challenge is to look for the peace around you

and to keep peace within you by not taking things so personally,

especially at the end of the year as you may go to lots of festivities, whether it's in-person,

social distancing, or on Zoom

and emotions can run high this time of year.

There's so much pressure sometimes to

create such a special moment every single year as you end a year and as you celebrate your holidays and sometimes those special plans don't work out so well, especially this year.

I've received lots of messages from your fellow meditators who have told me that they are actually spending Christmas or New

years and many celebrated Hanukkah last week alone for their first time ever many people were not able to travel to

locations to meet up with loved ones like they normally do.

Or they might live in the same town but can't get together

because they live in an area where there's a lockdown. So this is going to be a different year for

celebrating and we don't know how long this will last so that can be frustrating but know that it won't last

forever and this is a time to do something unique for the holidays it's a time to plan something that will allow you to

celebrate in a way that maybe is more interiorized, not so external where you're celebrating having fun with others, but rather

maybe you're going more inward, maybe you're meditating. I know some people who are doing full day meditation

...