Spiritual

Today I am grateful for the spiritual growth I have had and continue to have. I am also grateful for smiles-my own and those of others.

Spiritual health is an area that used to confuse and frustrate me. At times I didn't care and I equated spirituality with religion, which I was tired of. At other times I wanted answers to tough questions. I wanted to understand what it took to find spirituality. Like many other things in my life, about the time I stopped trying so hard is about the time I started knowing my soul, the base of my spirituality.

Today I don't consider myself a religious person. The rituals and the regimen seem too narrow to me. I like an expansive exploration of spirituality. It is good to start from a place of humility. I take less for granted--things like my physical health, my recovery from addiction, the gratitude practice that encompasses all of it.

But some of the practices of my religious upbringing are a valuable part of my spirituality today. One of those is praying on my knees. Many days that is how I start my day. It is a place of humility as I mention above.

I am excited about the potential that is found in exploring and expanding my spirituality today. A Higher Power and many others help me, sometimes with concerted effort, sometimes by chance.

Earlier this week, this quote was the "Word of the Day" on www.gratefulness.org

"O Great Spirit, I awake to another sun, grateful for gifts bestowed, granted one by one."
(Twylah Nitsch, Seneca medicine woman)

To pause at the start of a new day is to put myself on a healthy spiritual plane. That allows the rest of my being--physical, mental, and emotional--to also be put on a healthier plane. It's a good place to start. 

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