So I will be the first to admit I'm never good at keeping up
with things like this blog. Despite not blogging about it though, I have
been focusing the last several weeks on spirituality (that is the topic Kat and
I are focusing on lately) because it's one of the larger things on my mind
lately. It's not that I haven't wanted to write about it, it's more I
don't have the words to explain the thoughts that have been rolling around in
my head and I'm a little worried people will misunderstand what I'm trying to
say, but oh well...
For most of my life I've lumped religion and spirituality
into one category and I think that if you are religious they are without a
doubt linked, but for this challenge I kind of wanted to separate them a
bit. I had a hard time with that at first because without adding religion into
the mix I wasn't sure what exactly constituted spirituality so of course I
googled it. Wikipedia helped me out and gave me the definition that it was the
process of personal transformation. Another website said it was a personal
matter involving values and beliefs that provide purpose in our life.
Those were the 2 definitions that resonated most with me
and sort of matched what I wanted to get out of this month.
In the matter of my values and beliefs I've never really
questioned what mine were, instead I just adopted whatever those around me had,
which isn't a bad
thing because they have really great ones and it's kept me on a good path
through life. The older I get, however, I've realized, in terms of self-transformation, that
who I am is the product of others beliefs and values and not due to a conscious
effort on my part. I'm not saying that my values and their values don't line
up, but I guess I'm at a point in my life where I want to make sure that
my beliefs and values are really mine and really what I want my life to be
about. In an effort to do that I've been focusing on a few things. First is
meditation. I've always thought meditation sounded weird and a bit hippy dippy
but I think it's a really great way to get to know yourself and get in tune
with your thoughts. The real thoughts that matter, not all the voices in your
head that try to pull you in all sorts of different directions. So I've been
trying to do that on a regular basis. Take some time everyday to clear my mind
and feel inspired. The second thing I've been doing lately has been to try and have
an open mind. When presented with situations or conversations that
challenge my belief system or values, I try to think it through a bit more and
ask myself why I believe these things, why I feel this way about something or
why I'm responding a certain way. Is that really me responding or is it just an
auto-response.
The older I get the more I have this fierce desire to be
authentically me. I feel like a large part of that comes from knowing what you
want out of life and what you believe. For me spirituality is often
synonymous with finding peace and I feel most at peace and in harmony when I'm
being true to myself. So to round this all out and try to sum it all up I've
been trying to focus on making sure that the person I'm transforming into
coincides with the person I truly want to be and that I'm setting myself up for
a life I truly want to live.
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