Interests as Pathways

Pathways seem to open once you take a step. That’s why interests are so important to your spiritual journey. Any interest is a breadcrumb to help you along the way. And any interest you follow is a pathway toward a greater life experience.

I see spirituality as a custom-designed journey that we are each on. What you need, or want, is completely different than what I need, or want. What is effective to help you may be very different than what helped me. Which is why I urge you to develop a habit of noticing your own interests, and following those, as the keys to your custom path.

What is effective to help you may be very different than what helped me. Which is why I urge you to develop a habit of noticing your own interests, and following those, as the keys to your custom path.

One person may have an interest in flowers that leads to a desire to establish a cutting garden, that leads to a passion for growing items. Another person may have an interest in video editing that leads to a desire to make mini movies, that leads to a passion for films. Yet another may start with an interest in bears that leads to a desire to visit National Parks, that culminates in a life-long love of hiking. And just to make this point clear, I see each of those progressions as spiritual journeys.

All of life, I have found, is somehow showing us something about ourselves. It reflects back to us what we believe, what we think, and what we deem possible. It has the ability to show us everything we need to know about ourselves, and our ideas, so that we can progress.

What holds us back from pursuing our interests are often limiting beliefs around the value of our interests. Here is how those sound:

• This won’t work; it’s never been done before.
• I can’t do that; I don’t know how.
• This isn’t worth my time; it’s too complicated.
• I won’t be able to do this; it’s outside my skill set.

These are the words of someone who holds an interest, but who is afraid to pursue it. Or, has a limiting belief that there is no value in pursuing their interests..

You only make excuses for something that you actually want to do. So excuses around your interests are showing you that you have a desire. My advice? Focus on the interest and not the excuses. Focus on the desire, not the reasons you can’t have it. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

When you free yourself to pursue anything that interests you, now you are on your custom-designed spiritual journey. If you can take a step toward anything you are making excuses about, now you are moving forward to know yourself better. And if you can hold out hope for the benefit of pursuing your interests, you can change your own life experience for the better.

Taking a step toward your interests is like magic dust that you sprinkle on the ground and it illuminates your pathway. I now make it a habit to notice even my most random interest and to see where it leads. If I can’t pursue it right away, I make a note in my Log Book. When the idea repeats a few more times, now I know that there is something behind that interest for me. It has worked for new clothes that I have stumbled upon after reading something online. It has worked for new relationships I have established after I attended something new. It has worked to cause me to begin writing, mid-life, when a few years ago I had no idea that this is where it would lead. The common denominator is my willingness to follow my interests, even when they feel like impulses.

Taking a step toward your interests is like magic dust that you sprinkle on the ground and it illuminates your pathway.

Somewhere in history, the word impulsive became a negative attribute. Not for me. When I feel the pulse of excitement from an interest, particularly one that seems to come out of nowhere, I follow it, often immediately, to see where it leads. I click through the article. I buy what seems interesting. I peruse what appeals to me. All with an attitude that what interests me holds value to me.

The spiritual path is really a journey of knowing yourself. And all your interests help you to better your relationship with your own true self. See them as tiny bonds, between you and you, as you go about your day. See them as tiny seeds, planted by your own soul, to show you the way. See them as indicators that you are on your path, wherever it might lead.