Being Spiritual

I've been thinking a lot lately about being spiritual. Years ago, it was a real dilemna for me to understand how one can be successful in a very practical world and maintain one's spiritual integrity at the same time.

Then I gradually came to see it - we are all spiritual 24 hours a day regardless of what we're doing. Like sexuality, joy and creativity, spirituality is our birthright and we don’t have to do anything to earn it.

The Bhagwan - remember him? - said that when we choose to live our lives with joy, all becomes meditation. I feel that energy moving through my life now but sometimes we are drawn from our centres when we get too busy and stressed.

Like most people, every so often I just want to stop the world and get off for a while. When I allow myself that gift, I begin to feel very calm again and life feels easier once more. Our outside world always reflects our inner so the batteries and light bulbs and falling curtain rods all stop misbehaving when we are in good energy. Peace reigns again.

It's a lesson we all need to remember as life gets busier and busier. We need to do nothing to be spiritual. We already are but we must be open to it in order to live that part of our reality. Otherwise, life is just a cycle of recurring physical experiences, some tedious (household chores!), some pleasurable (sex!) and it's not living our full potential, is it?

Wayne Dyer says we are not physical beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience. I guess that says it all. I talk about our `physical cases' that we need in order to operate on this planet but in a book I've been reading, I heard this described as our `soul bags.' great, eh?
Sometimes, I actually find things like washing, eating, going to the toilet a nuisance because it takes time out from things that really matter! But of course, balance is the key as with so many things in life. As we get more busy and pressured, we need more, not less, to relax, kick back and `smell the roses.’

We need to enjoy all our experiences, be total so that when we die, we won't have to regret all we didn't feel, do and say, even the conflicts, challenges and difficulties. It's all good. I read a saying recently that you should never die `with the music still inside you.’ Years ago, I used to say that what mattered to me was leaving behind something important when I die, a legacy of achievement and fulfilled dreams. Now I believe that on my death-bed, I will want to say I had fun, that I enjoyed the journey, that I expressed all my music and lived my life fully.

Enjoying each day of our lives is the true secret of happiness, just being in the present. Another good saying is `You can choose to be on the road TO happiness or on the road OF happiness.’ Happiness is not a destination or goal; we carry its seed inside us constantly, like a wellspring of joy we need only tap into. Sometimes it feels inaccessible but that’s only because we’re blocking it with fears, lack of trust and insecurities. We all stumble and fall and when you feel overwhelmed, that’s a sure sign you’re taking on too much pressure. Take heed and slow down.You’re always the boss of your own life.

In the dark times, trust becomes paramount and our powers of positive thinking are sorely tested. It is easy to be positive when everything in our lives are running smoothly and damnably hard when they are not! To live real experiences, we have to step out of our ego space and keep moving towatds the light of our spirits. There is always a gift even in the darkest day.

Our beliefs are reflected in the reality of our lives, what we see around us a mirror showing us ourselves and sometimes, we don’t like what we see - then it’s very uncomfortable. Our issues are ongoing and just when we think we have life licked, something happens that throws us back into confusion, stirs up all our insecurities.

All we can do is laugh at our own frailties and learn from them. Honouring our vulnerabilites keeps us psychologically sound and away from denial, avoidance, self-doubt and blame. It’s funny how when you’re right with yourself, everything around you seems to work out.

We are living in a time of great change and transition and this makes us all feel fearful, uncertain. The time for drifting is over - we must stand up and be strong, individually as well as globally. We are in a time of tremendous growth, the benefits of which we’ll only see after the dust settles. Here are three practical tools to make the days easier. When you do these three things, you cannot be unhappy - it’s just not possible.

1. Trust
2. Stay in the present
3. Think positive