If you would have peace, do only good.

Affirmation:

I do only good.
I desire only good.
I release all desires that are unworthy of a child of God.

It seems at first that I am setting an impossible goal for myself. The body and mind have desires that do not promote peace and compassion. Those desires are deeply seated and may never go away.

All I ask of myself, however, is to release any attachment to those desires, and any misconception that appeasing them will bring me greater peace. Those desires create inner turmoil, and attempting to satisfy them would only make the problem worse. The body and mind do not crave happiness, but only distraction. Obeying their desires would not bring happiness, even though they insist that it would. Moreover, it would cause a conflict within me and drive me farther away from peace, not bring me closer.

I do not condemn these desires; on the contrary, I bless and forgive them. But I understand deeply that inner harmony can only be achieved by adopting the good as my only purpose, and acting only in ways that will do no harm to myself or others.

Right thought, right action consist not of suppressing unworthy desires, but of contemplating and understanding them fully. Once the true effect of satisfying them is understood, they lose their attraction. Then it is easy to release them. In fact, releasing them becomes the only natural course of action.

It is not always clear which desires are worthy and accord with the good. The true test in any case is whether acting on a desire will increase the kindness, goodness and compassion in the world, or will bring unkindness, hurt, and unhappiness. You cannot answer that question without understanding your desires completely.

Once you have felt the inner peace that comes from acting for good, as well as the dis-ease that flows from acting otherwise, it becomes easy to act only for good. This is true so long as you remain mindful of your intentions, your actions, and their likely consequences.