What does it mean to be spiritual?

Recently I overheard someone saying, “For someone who is meant to be spiritual she sure spends a lot of time in hospital!” Once I got over the initial surprise that someone could think that a spiritual person never has to go to hospital or even have health issues, I started to think about the question, “What makes a person spiritual?”

Speaking from a personal perspective, spirituality is about finding the inner peace, finding my own sense of balance and harmony, using the soul within me to help express love and compassion. It’s about acts of kindness, bringing light and joy to oneself and others. It’s understanding oneself on a very deep, personal level and, in turn, using that wisdom to understand others. It’s about loving oneself so that one can give unconditional love to others no matter who they are.

Spirituality is not about religion, yoga or meditation although these are all ways that can be used to help one on their spiritual journey. It’s not about trance parties, burning incense all day long, reading tarot cards, quoting positive quotes, looking for signs from our spirit guides or angels. And, yet, all of these things add to our journey of spirituality.

Every being is a spiritual being no matter who or what they are. Being spiritual entails doing the difficult work as well as the fun work – if we don’t explore our shadow, how can we maintain a balance within ourselves? Being spiritual is embracing the ordinariness of life with absolute joy and gratitude. Being spiritual is an acceptance of love over fear.

Spirituality is about living your daily life without judgement, criticism, anger or resentment. It’s about choosing to live your life with integrity based on your own personal values. It’s about being aware of the impact of our words and actions on ourselves and others – harmful or not. It’s about uncovering your own inner nature and embracing it. It’s about coming back to your deepest truth.

I started my own spiritual journey, in earnest, five years ago. It hasn’t been an easy one and at times I wish I had never begun it, momentarily wishing for my “old self” back before I shudder in total aghast when I am reminded of the false self I had been for way too long. It’s been five years of deep, inner work, facing my shadows, finding ways to love myself again so that I could love others unconditionally. It was a journey of soulful searching until one day I realised that it was not about “finding something” but rather just allowing myself to come back to who I AM.

I am no-where near where I want to be but I trust the process and every day I make attempts to bring myself closer to my SELF. It has been a process of identifying the beliefs that I have been conditioned to, throughout my life, and dropping those that don’t serve me in a positive way. It’s been a process of building healthy boundaries for myself so that I can give my light to those who do not deplete me. It’s been a process of breaking down illusions that I have created as a result of years and years of emotional neglect, from myself and from others. It’s been a process of having the courage to share my own life experiences with others so that they may find a way to uncover their own inner selves. It’s been a process of pure excitement as I allow myself to see the Magic that is spirituality.

Being spiritual meant making the conscious decision to go deeply within so that my TRUE self may shine through. It meant acknowledging that there is no need to beat myself up when I didn’t quite shine on a particular day – after all, tomorrow is another day 😊 It meant surrounding myself with a tribe of people that are also trying to live each day, being TRUE to themselves while serving for the greater good of all.

And yes, it does also mean meditating every day, using my tarot cards to guide me when I need the guidance, praying to the Great Spirit, looking out for the messages from my spirit guides, colouring in mandalas, wearing talismans, having pictures of my spirit animals around me (and talking to them!), honouring the Moon with rituals, creating my own Place of Wellness where I can retreat to when I need to reflect on my SELF. Without all of these things, I doubt I would have been able to take on the personal challenge of uncovering my inner nature. It is all of these things plus so much more that makes spirituality the pure Magic that it is.

I have shared with you my very own personal take on what being spiritual means for me. I now ask you – what does it mean, for you, to be spiritual?

#transformation #spirituality #change #emotions