THE SPIRITUAL TOOLKIT

The practical spirituality warrior has a set of tools that she deploys all day long to help her succeed. These tools include intentions, prayers, self awareness, and self compassion. They also include practicing new beliefs, shedding old beliefs, and generally trying to stay light hearted and open. With just these few tools, I have found that life is much easier to navigate.

When I feel uncertain, I turn to my tools to find certainty. When I am worrying, I pull out my anti-worry checklist and turn my worry around. When I am down, I use those emotions to see my thinking. And when I am happy, I seek to prolong those emotions as long as I can. It’s not hard. It’s not costly. And it’s a great way to live.

So why aren’t more of us knee-deep into spirituality? Why are these topics so taboo? Why do we collectively keep quiet about our belief in something more, when that one belief makes life so much easier?

The answers to these questions have come to me over time, as I have observed myself and others and how we progress through life. We all start out with inherited beliefs and then we all get to make a choice as to what we truly believe. And it’s that latter process that interests me.

A process of discerning, for yourself, what you believe is best done alone. A process of getting comfortable with a set of beliefs to support you is best done in private. A process of shedding your old inherited beliefs is best done when you tell no one what you are doing. Why? Because we each have our own spirits to guide us through this process.

My own work is irrelevant to you, as I am sure that you have your own wants, fears, and ideas that you are contending with. My own beliefs are irrelevant to you, as you have your own inner wisdom to discern what works for you. My own journey is irrelevant to you, as I see every journey to be bespoke.

And therein lies a big reason that some of us stay away from spiritual topics. We see someone else’s path and we think, that’s not a path I want. Or, we witness another’s experience and we say, that’s not the experience I would prefer to have. Or, we see another go off the rails and we think, I am so glad that she’s not me. Yet what we witness isn’t for us. Their path is theirs alone. Their experiences are custom-designed for them, not for us, so there is no reason at all to compare. We each get our own custom experience, and it took me years to see that.

Now that I can see the benefits of a spirit-led life, I am more comfortable talking about it, writing about it, and living my beliefs. But I didn’t start there. I started with a slew of mistaken ideas that I had failed to confront and had let into my experience in an unconscious way. Those old ideas were ready to be done, so I did the work of clearing them out so that I could discern for myself what I believe.

If you do this work, you will emerge with a more loving countenance toward yourself. If you show up each day and confront old ideas that society thrusts upon us, you’ll soon find that you easily choose beliefs that work and are self sustaining. If you set an intent to welcome in your spirit, you’ll be led easily on a path that is best. For you.