Journey on the Spiritual Path

This month marks my 34^th year of being on a spiritual path.  Even as I write this, I wonder what I could have been thinking when I got started.  This is a path that can be very rewarding but also one of the most difficult ways of being.

Why I thought that doing what I started doing was going to be easy is way “beyond” me now.  There is nothing easy about keeping your word, staying positive, being honest all the time, especially with yourself, always staying with the possible solutions, being “true” to yourself, encouraging other people and always giving something of value to all you meet.  And this is just the beginning list.  It goes on and on and on.

Being a follower of a non-traditional religion is even more challenging especially around the Christian holidays.  I love having a live Christmas tree up but I don’t believe that Christmas was the birth of Jesus.  Easter is even more of a challenge. 

I remember the last year of ministerial school, our assignment was to “mind map” the Easter sermon.  I figured there could not be that much difference between “Easter” years since the story is the same, so I did one of the sermons from previous years.  I then talked some of my classmates to join me in going to an amusement park for the day.  We had a grand time but every year thereafter, I wanted to skip out on Easter. 

Right now I seem to be on a path of ordinary.  It is very restful and it allows me to read, nap, craft my creativity in various avenues that truly feed my soul.  As I write this, my puppy is having a very vocal dream and his feet are moving as though he is running.  When truly busy, I never had the time to enjoy hearing puppy sounds or tuning into my own listening.  Now, I am able to tune into what is my next best thing to do.  It is truly a time for me to be grateful for my life – all of my life.

It All Matters

“In the immensity of consciousness, a light appears – a tiny point which moves rapidly and traces shapes, thoughts, and feelings, like a pen writing on paper.  And the ink which leaves a trace is memory.  You are that tiny point and by your movement the world is ever re-created.”  Sri Nisargadatt

This explains to me how everything we think, say and do leaves an imprint in life – how everything matters.  How we think creates our feelings.  Feelings create habits.  Habits create a life. 

Recently, I had a session with an elderly person who took up the whole time complaining about some childhood experience.  While this was going on, my thought was, “It is time to get over it.”

More than ever, I want to reach my end time feeling good about what my life was like, the decisions I made, the accomplishments I experienced, the people who I allowed into my life, and the puppies who have adored me. 

The biggest event I want to cherish is the ability to learn new things and the talent I had to turn interesting thoughts into interesting creative endeavors.  I want to know how many more gifts I have within me and how will I get them all used up before my end life?

Regrettable times were when I took me too seriously or the situations I was in too seriously.  I should have learned earlier how to laugh longer, louder, or seen the humor about what a cosmic joke life can sometimes be. 

Enough!  Life is wonderful and I am truly grateful for all of the lessons I learned and those yet to show up.  I smile as I say, “Thank you God for all because I am truly blessed always.”

Economic Challenges

During these economic challenges with the government thinking that opposition is the solution to all of our problems, it is necessary sometimes to just shut all of that out of our consciousness.

Politicians think that they are getting paid to be leaders when what they are accomplishing is not close to leadership but more like standing in the way of progress.  I am not even sure I know what progress on a national level even looks like.

What I do know is that I need to keep my thoughts and mind in a place of higher quality and to know that God is my supply, substance and source of all the good in my life.  I know that with God in charge of my life, I don’t have to depend on anyone, let alone the government, for my sustenance and living.

Remembering that I am in charge of my life and that my thoughts create what shows up, is all important.  I again commit to creating the most magnificent life I can possibly imagine.  That means that I stand for who and what I am and that I am grateful for all of what life has presented to me.

I think that we have more choices than we allow ourselves to think about.  When I look around in nature, the abundance of it sometimes overwhelms my senses.  With that in mind, I need to remember that I have far more choices than what I have before me.  Maybe we need to support each other in the abundant choices that show up for us.  

Ah! Cooler Weather.

It has been very hot in recent months with the humidity being in the high double digits.  I remember telling someone in San Antonio when I first moved there that the heat felt like it was going to last forever.  She replied, “Yes, it does.  But one day it is just cooler and it keeps getting that way.”

Today is the day at it got cooler.  It was 58 degrees when I got up this morning.  It felt so good that we took our two puppies out for a walk around the neighborhood.  When we got home, I took my coffee out on the patio and savored the hot and cool at the same time. 

I realized that what I was experiencing was the magnificence of life.  Life gives us the varieties in order to keep us interested and engaged in what is going on.  If it were all the same, I know I would have this tendency to quickly fall into what I am going to call being “asleep.”  For a long time, I walked through life asleep – not really paying attention to what was going on or where I was going.

Consequently, because of that, I have huge gaps in my memory of what my life was like during those periods.  I can’t remember if I was happy, sad, or who my friends were or what I was interested in during that time.  How sad.

Not only do I want to pay attention to the weather, but to pay attention to my life; the ups and downs are here for a purpose and I want to experience all of it.  I invite you to join me.

What's Next?

In the book, The Greatest Secret in the World, by Og Mandino, the author writes out in the Scroll Marked IV, “I am nature’s greatest miracle.  I can accomplish far more than I already have.  I am on this earth for a purpose and that purpose is to grow a mountain and I strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”

In thinking about my life, I know that I have more to accomplish and that I have never, to my knowledge, strained my potential.  I wonder what my life would have been now, had I strained my potential a little earlier on?  I drifted through my 20’s figuring out what I was “purposed” to do.  Plus, during that time, because I had little education, I couldn’t do much in order to support myself.  I was more concerned about food, clothing and shelter than what did I want to do the rest of my life.

I can also remember not making some very good choices about my life.  In a lot of ways, my 20’s were a time of figuring out life and my role in it.  I didn’t know how to “do” life or how to make the most of what I had at the time.

On our recent trip, we visited Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia, and I was amazed at how much he accomplished during his life, the languages he spoke, and that he designed and was instrumental in building the University of Virginia.  Talk about leaving a lasting legacy.

Now, I truly feel as though I am better equipped and prepared for more of what life is and how to “do” life on a greater, grander scale than ever before.  I know that I have more potential to strain and I think I would like to know how that feels.  I would also like more experiences in which I astonish myself.  Those times in my life are rare but memorable.  I want more of them.

Since all of us are nature’s greatest miracle, there is more for all of us to experience.  What will be your “lasting” legacy?

Vacation Time

We are planning and getting ready to travel to the East Coast for about ten days.  Since I have never been there, I am looking forward to the scenery and visiting new places and seeing friends and relatives along the way.

We have stocked up on several books on CD to listen to since we will be having some 10-hour days in the car.  True to form, I will probably sleep most of the trip. 

There is something about a moving car that is comfortable that puts me into slumber land within minutes.  The last trip we took, we got up very early and when I commented on the pre-dawn hour, my partner very cleverly informed me that it made no difference since I would be asleep within minutes anyway.

We usually take some intermediate roads rather than the turnpikes in order to get a feel for the countryside.  It is really fun when in driving through a new area because you never know what you will find.  

So, since I will be out of pocket for a period of time, enjoy your end of summer and get ready for the cooler weather.  Whatever your plans are, make the most of them.  Blessings on your journey.

Being Grateful

I am recovering from a protracted illness.  It knocked me off my feet for more days than I want to admit.  But it gave me a chance to reflect on my life and how grateful I am to be where I am and all that I am experiencing.

Recently, at a Sunday church service, we received a card that says, “Love Every Step.  The place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.”  Hafiz is credited with the quote.

I didn’t pay much attention to it when I received it but since it has made me think about my life.  I have to admit that I have created a magnificent life.  What a relief to finally recognize it.  No more yearning, searching, and looking for something that needs to be added.  It’s done!

I am really grateful for all that I have, all that is still in the process of showing up and all that life is to make every day one to be truly grateful for in every aspect.

Notably, I am in a position now to take the classes I want (including but not limited to learning how to use a Singer Overlock Sewing Machine and taking German cooking lessons) that are fun, engaging and will stretch me into new and different avenues of being.  I can’t wait to meet the new people that this direction will take for me.  Certainly, I will be able to add to my wardrobe and extend my cooking capabilities.  How fun is all of that?

Decide how to make your life magnificent and step into it as quickly as you can.  It is so much more satisfying.