By Leo Babauta

In a moment when you’re feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or stressed … you can find a sense of calm and peace. It starts with you giving yourself permission to feel peaceful.

Once you’ve given yourself permission, here are some things you can do to achieve this calm:

• Pause. Deepen and slow your breathing.

• Allow things (and other people) to be just as they are. Let them be, and let that be OK.

• Relax your body. Notice where your muscles are tense, and as you breathe slowly, let your muscles relax.

• Notice the beauty in the moment, in the situation, in the other person. Find some love for it.

Even if another person is not behaving as you’d like, you can always find something beautiful about them. They care, they are passionate, they have a good heart, they are trying their best. And in each moment, you can find something beautiful, if you’re willing to see.