Sophie Golding - Spirituality: Guidance for a Better Life

SPIRITUALITY

Copyright Summersdale Publishers Ltd, 2019

Text by Vicky Edwards and Vicki Vrint

All rights reserved.

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INTRODUCTION

The benefits of embracing a spiritual lifestyle are enormous. A spiritual lifestyle will bring you peace and happiness; it will teach you how to handle difficult situations with a calm and considered approach; it will help you to discover what is truly important to you and give you the confidence to reach your goals. You will no longer regard challenges as obstacles and you will come to understand that the answers you seek are already within you.

This book shows you how to start your spiritual journey, drawing together wisdom from the worlds greatest traditions that has guided and inspired people for centuries. By exploring the different ideas and philosophies within this world, you will discover which principles ring true for you. There are also practical tips and techniques for you to try, which will help you to incorporate spirituality into your everyday life, discover new ways of thinking and increase your self-awareness.

Setting aside a little time to try out these simple techniques will bring you huge rewards, from your new attitude of positivity and compassion through to a greater connection with your spiritual self and the world around you. Youll live a happier, healthier and more authentic life, which is the best reward of all.

PART 1 Everyday Spirituality

GET TO KNOW YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF

Spirituality is a personal journey whereby we try to establish and nurture a connection with something greater than ourselves. To do this, we must first look to ourselves: at our beliefs, our values and our actions. What could you change or improve upon? Based on your life to date, create an honest personal inventory of yourself. Explore your character traits, ideals and beliefs, paying particular attention to the themes of fairness, honesty and love, and acknowledge your strengths as well as your weaknesses.

The following questions will help you discover your core values and create your inventory:

• What are my positive and negative qualities?
• Do I have a belief system?
• Are there outstanding apologies or amends I need to make that would give me greater peace of mind? If there are but this is not possible, can I forgive myself and move on knowing that I will not repeat this behaviour?
• What resentments am I carrying that it would do me good to let go of?

A truthful moral inventory provides a sound basis from which to begin your journey to enlightenment and will help you tune into a more spiritual mindset.

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

Aristotle

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu

THINK POSITIVE

Emotional health and spiritual balance require a positive state of mind, so cultivate a can do mindset until this becomes instinctive. Practising positivity, especially towards others, diminishes negative emotions such as hate, envy and jealousy and leaves your mind and heart clearer and lighter. Be willing and ready to seek out silver linings even in the darkest of situations.

Make a conscious decision to be on the lookout for negative thoughts and be ready to challenge them whenever they pop into your head. If they do, try a mindfulness exercise, such as visualizing your negativity being carried away on the breeze and out of your sight.

Choose your company wisely: if you know someone to be a doomsayer who always steals your sunshine, give them a wide berth. Or be prepared to call them out on their habit of always seeing the glass as half empty. People can only drain your positivity if you allow them to.

In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities To make a Positive impact.

Les Brown

What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them.

Thomas Merton

START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON

Start every day with a moment of reflection. Even if you dont pray or meditate, a short time spent focusing on how you intend to face the day ahead can bring great clarity and set you up to achieve your goals and objectives. Aim to be the best possible version of yourself.

MAKE EACH DAY YOUR MASTERPIECE.

John Wooden

CREATE ORDER FROM CHAOS

It is almost impossible to feel a spiritual connection to anything if you are living in chaos. If you have a tendency to create mess, make a concerted effort to be neater: put things away, clean up after yourself as you go, and keep on top of domestic chores. A tidy environment is reflective of your inner self: tidy home, tidy mind. There is something soothing and rhythmic about tidying and cleaning, so the act itself can be beneficial to our spiritual health and sense of contentment.

Life has a way of setting things in order and leaving them be. Very tidy, is life.

Jean Anouilh

JOURNEY WITH A JOURNAL

Keep a hand-written spiritual journal. There is something about physically writing that creates more powerful connections between mind, body and spirit; this doesnt seem to happen with typing. Invest in a good-quality notebook and a pen that you find easy to write or sketch with so that your journaling is a pleasant experience. Empty your heart and soul into its pages and note your feelings, your triumphs and your struggles.

Resolve to write at a similar time each day, so that expressing yourself on the page becomes part of your routine. Try to be as descriptive as you can in recording your spiritual and emotional temperature. If you struggle to find the right words, draw how you feel. Take time to look back now and again, observing any patterns in thought or behaviour that you need to work on.