We use and hear this cliche a lot, especially in terms of our mental health.
How do we stay connected to our friends, our family, our coworkers, our community, and still "protect our own peace"?
The inundation of everyone else's lives into ours is right at our fingertips between group chats and texting, social media, talking to our coworkers on a daily basis, our community in the places we frequent. It is easy to let other's feelings or situations overpower our own state of being if we aren't careful. We bounce between getting the highlight reel only, and hearing the person who always sees through the glass-half-empty lens.
We don't ever know the whole story, good or bad, and the point is never really that we do, but instead that we practice active listening, intentional compassion, an empathetic response to their experiences and emotions, without letting any of it penetrate our current state of being.
No matter what side of the coin we are seeing in someone else's story, we can always come back to our own personal blessings, goals, and all the things we find that fill our own cups. When we find ourselves comparing (in either direction!) we have lost sight of the hard work we have put in to get to where we are, wherever that might be today.
It's ok if you aren't edging for the promotion or saving to buy a new house. You can instead feel fulfilled with just where you are in your career and instead spending your extra time on a new hobby or using the vacation days to travel. You might even be looking to downsize your house or your workload, and that is a beautiful thing.
To protect our peace, we come back to the things that ground us. Remind yourself daily what you have and what you're grateful to have worked so hard for, and maybe it is just perspective. We will ebb and flow just like everyone around us, and our energy is ours to control.