maandag 27 juni 2011

Motivating your spiritual side


In order for us to be healthy and happy human beings, we cannot neglect our spirituality. This does not mean that we need to be intensely fanatical about religion or about a particular organization. In fact, spirituality does not have as much to do with religion as one might think at first glance. What it means is that we get in touch with our spiritual side. It is possible to go to place of worship frequently, but still neglect spirituality. In fact, many atheists would argue that they are more spiritual than religious people because they focus more and the here and now because this time is all we have.

Spirituality is a lot like physical fitness. It takes practice and motivation. Here are a few ideas of things than you can do to motivate yourself to increase your spirituality.

Read sacred writings or uplifting books.
The wisdom of the ages is found in books. Just as the written word has allowed us to become a technological civilization, books and sacred writings contain the human race's cumulative wisdom and spirituality.


Watch uplifting movies.
There are so many movies and television shows which are degrading, vulgar, rude, violent, and pornographic. This kind of material takes you further away from spirituality. If you can find movies where people forgive each other, show love to each other, and lift others up, then this will be time well spent.

Practice praying, meditating, or sitting quietly.
Just as in physical exercise, spiritual exercise takes time, practice and motivation. Commit to spending a certain amount of time each day in prayer according to your beliefs. Spend part your prayer time in silent contemplation. Don't try to use
God as your personal genie, but spend time praying for others, and listening silently for thoughts and impressions. Meditation is a good idea regardless of your faith. The goal of meditation should be to empty your mind of all the daily activities and troubles, and try to be quiet and enjoy being part of something larger. Spending this time daily will help you to see things differently in your daily life. You will be more in control of yourself instead of just acting out the script that life hands you. If you don't believe in God, and don't have the discipline to meditate, when you have a quiet moment, just sit quietly for a certain length of time and see what comes to your mind

Begin or increase your donations to charity.
Giving makes you feel good. Helping others in need is one of the best and time tested ways to increase your spirituality. You can also volunteer for worthy causes.

Practice focusing more on others.
When you find yourself in a conversation, and you catch yourself talking too much about yourself, stop and shift the focus of the conversation to the other person. Ask questions about them, compliment them, and show them that they are important to you. If there is somebody that you do not like, do something nice for them. If someone has done something to offend you or hurt you, forgive them. Try and put yourself in other people's place more often. Practice putting the desires of your spouse before your own. Treat members of your family with great respect.
Cultivating spirituality in your life is more important than anything else you can do. It requires motivation, perseverance, and a lot of hard work, but so does almost anything worth doing. The things that are the hardest to do often pay the greatest dividends.

8 opmerkingen:

  1. Might I also suggest listening to uplifting music? I've found that after a week of listening to nothing but music like that, my entire outlook has become more spiritual and positive :D

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  2. Thanks for posting, really good tips!

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  3. Hello my friend. Glad to be the first to comment and follow tonight! Here are my blogs:
    http://raskmusic.blogspot.com/
    http://lulzjewtube.blogspot.com/
    http://raskhacks.blogspot.com/
    http://manlylavatears.blogspot.com/
    http://weeklychanblog.blogspot.com/

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  4. You missed another great way to feed one's spiritual side. Start reading your blog! ~

    Jimmy Fungus

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  5. i really dont work with my spiritual side

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  6. I haven't given this much thought, thanks for the tips.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  7. Nice post, I like your blog!
    +Follow

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  8. I don't believe in god so praying is no real alternative for my, but meditating works really good too! All together this is a good advice to have a healthy time.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen