Practical Personal Spirituality for Trying Times

By Peter Davison

Last Updated: Mar 1, 2005
Articles & News : Articles : Spiritual Care

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Spirituality, whether pursued in a sacred building or beside a trickling brook, is about finding inner peace through a very personal connection between self and the Grand Organized Design (G.O.D.). While names for the Great Spirit differ from culture to culture, the quest to make sense out of life remains constant in every heart and across every generation.

Personal spirituality can be measured by the level to which we can feel inner contentment and acceptance for our life as it truly is. In relationships, spirituality can be measured by how many eyes we look into each day and give thanks.

The level of gratitude we have determines our level of self worth. That is the vibration of the heart, the harmony of the spirit.

Practical spirituality doesn’t wait on hope, because hope is the belief that over there is better than what is here. There is far too much to love and longing to be loved right here, right now. Most people can chuckle at a good joke, appreciate a kind word and give thanks for a good deed. But I wonder if the true test of our capacity to love comes from embracing that which is seemingly most unlovable?

What if there was a way to find the beauty in every fallen leaf, broken heart, diseased cell or child's tear?

What if in even the most trying times of sickness and loss there is a source of beauty, a deep wellspring of life, patiently waiting its time to be discovered, cherished by the beholder and thanked for its ability to bring us back home to ourselves, back to loving the truth of who we are. If we can’t see this beauty, then how can we experience the love that makes our spirit soar?

Spirituality is our life force. It can be measured by how much vitality we have flowing between our consciousness (how much can we love?) and our calling (how much can we give?). In order to increase this vitality link, we need a skill set that helps us live on the earth in the fullness of each and every moment.

We need a users manual to inspire living that answers real questions simply and directly. How exactly do we find peace of mind in chaos and worry? How can I learn to know myself better than a difficult person knows me, so this person don’t get under my skin? How do I wake up happy and do what I love to do everyday? How do I find what’s missing, so I can feel joy again?

Practical spirituality is also much more than reacting to solve problems. It is also about being proactive and taking care of ourselves like no one else can. Afterall, friends and jobs come and go, children come and go, and even husbands and wives come and go, but we are guaranteed to be the only person we spend the rest of our life with. So take good care and see beauty wherever we can.

Here are two of the ways to put spirit back into daily living and giving.
 
- Balanced mind is peace of mind. We can’t manage anything we can’t see the balance in. We can only find the balance when our list of benefits weighs as much as our list of negatives for any person, event or thing, that we judge to be “all bad.”

- Nothing is ever missing.  It just changes form.

Just as a leave grows from bud to bloom to colour to dust, as the nutrients return to the earth. We may say, “boo hoo” the leaves are off the tree, but that is only our attachment to what we like, not the truth of nature. Nature never destroys anything, she just changes its form. If you are poor in health, where are you rich? Our job is to find what’s missing in its new form and give thanks for the way it is.

For many of us, the charged emotions of life experiences can seem overwhelming. Personal spirituality invites us to find the peace there might be in a quiet mind or a grateful heart. We know we are inspired (in spiritus) when we can look in the mirror and enjoy an inner giggle, because we know that everything we have done or have not done is worthy of love.

- Peter Davison is a Halifax-based international motivational speaker. Please visit www.peterdavison.ca for more information.

 

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