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Spiritual Sustainability
You go on a weekend retreat. You process some childhood memories, perhaps some trauma. Discover some tools and feel elated and enlightened. Your life is changed forever. You are inspired to live your truth, fulfill your potential and manifest your dreams. Then you go back home and have to deal with the day-to-day grind again. That “high” begins to diminish, sometimes leading to depression.
How can we as spiritual human beings sustain our connection to the divine while accomplishing our everyday responsibilities and tasks?
Believe me, I’ve been there.
I’ve been a “seeker” since high school and spent most of my twenties in classes, workshops, yoga classes and weekend retreats. The rollercoaster of inspiration and deflation became a common occurrence in my spiritual experience. I would “see the light” and then come back to the “real” world and feel challenged by my surroundings and become uninspired and even at times, hopeless that lasting change would forever elude me.
Part of the problem was attempting to deny my human nature in preference of being an enlightened spiritual being. I was making it black and white, all or nothing. I wanted to be a perfect spiritual being, and if I wasn’t, then I thought I was an utter failure each time I made a mistake or acted in a manner that was “unbecoming of spirituality”.
While we remain on this Earth, we will always be fallible human beings. We will never reach perfection, but can improve each day through our choices, thoughts, attitudes and beliefs.
Ultimately, I find recognizing that Love, Gratitude, Compassion, and Forgiveness are the most important factors in growth, can alleviate many of the distractions and dramas of our daily lives.
In addition, the following ten suggestions can help us through each day as we look to impact our world positively and enjoy each moment:
10 Recommendations for Staying Grounded in Spirituality on a Daily Basis:
Have a Daily Spiritual Practice: It could be meditation, prayer, yoga or chanting. Something that invokes the spirit within and involves an exchange of energy between you and a Higher Power.
Be of Service: Volunteer, do a favor for a loved one, offer help to a friend in need.
Show Compassion and Tolerance: When someone angers you or you wish to judge another, try and put yourself in their shoes. Understanding life through someone else’s eyes can create miracles.
Express Your Love: Voice all of the unsaid sentiments for those you hold dear in your life. People always regret it when they don’t. Always.
Love and Accept Yourself: Quiet the critical ego and embrace Spirit’s loving and gentle voice. Berating yourself for not being perfect gives the ego ammunition to stay in charge. YOU (the highest part of you) are in charge and only YOU can choose to love and accept yourself. Waiting for others to do so is futile, as they won’t until you do.
Connect with Nature: Going for walks on the beach, hikes in the mountains, treks in the forest, or even to your local park can change your chemistry and your perspective.
Forgive: Holding on to grudges because you have been wronged keeps you contracted, uptight and on guard. You don’t have to reconcile and you don’t have to forgive the “what”, but you can forgive the “why”. People’s reasons for hurting others are almost always about them and almost never about you.
Apologize: Have you done something that has caused a negative impact but you’re afraid to admit it? Apologize and feel the burden lift immediately. Energy will shift. It’s easier than you think.
Build a Relationship With the Unseen: Connect with Angels, Ascended Master, Your Higher Self and deceased loved ones (ancestors) through prayer, meditation, and automatic writing, or by having a session with someone who can deliver such messages.
Engage in Ceremony and Ritual: Honor that which is sacred to you. A special anniversary, an achievement/accomplishment, a milestone for your child, the new moon, etc.
Over time, you can make these suggestions part of your daily spiritual practice, ensuring that no matter what else is happening in your life, you can stay grounded and positive. Give them a try and see the difference it makes.
