Spiritual Growth: the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times

Spiritual Growth: the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times 

To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives? 


To grow spiritually is to look inward.


Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.


To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.


Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual. Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing one’s full potential is to self-actualize. Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.


To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.


Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianism, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives. Whether we believe that life’s meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm.  Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to---a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.


To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.


Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.


Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible. 

Giving Your All

Giving Your All

The act of giving your very best to the needy can likewise cultivate the best emotional satisfaction in your heart. Whatever form of help you extend, be it service or something of value, you will undoubtedly receive something better in return.

Is there anything better than a simple “thank you” that is meant with sincerity? Is there anything better than an appreciation that makes you feel needed and important? Is there anything better than to see smiles on other people’s faces for having made them feel equally important and cared for?

If your physical resources are limited, you can put your talent or creativity to work. Your urge to help those in need should inspire you to find ways in accumulating resources to actualize your intention. You can come up with ideas to generate more money through fund raising programs. You may also give more of your time doing volunteer service.

In the process of giving your all, your cooperation, attention, and entire being need not be strained. You may get physically exhausted; but emotionally, you will be charged with a heart full of compliments, making you feel all-important. You will feel revitalized and invigorated. You will become more enthusiastic. All these occur because you love what you’re doing.

When you set your mind to work for a good cause, you are actually tapping and activating power that promotes health in every corner of your physical, psychological, and emotional being. Your emotions will run high in a positive manner. You will feel sentimentally contented with what you are doing. You will feel as though you’re the highest paid executive in the business; not because you’re being paid with money, but because you’re being paid with your own sense of fulfillment.

Oh yes………….when you give your all, the best will bounce back to you.

Enjoy Your Life: Change Your Point of View

Enjoy Your Life: Change Your Point of View

"Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars."- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts 


If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again? 


In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.


So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?


Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.


On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder’ as well.


Here’s how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:


Optimists expect the best


The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault. 


The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune---it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case. 


Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the 'problem' at hand. They use 'positive reinterpretation.' In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.


They won’t say “things will never get better,” “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”


Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles. 


People respond positively to optimists


Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with. 


Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavorably. 


In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice. 


When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher 


Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.


They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.


Optimists are healthier and live longer


Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's ability to fight disease.


Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts. 


So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.


Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see life in the bright side? 

Great thoughts from great Souls…

Great thoughts from great Souls…
"First, be a man; if you do not success in that you can succeed in nothing."
-James A. Garfield.
"One need to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds."
-Mahatma Gandhi.
"Character, not brain, will count at the crucial moments."
-Rabindranath Tagore.
"Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatest trust upon them."
-William Shakespeare.
"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue."
-G. K. Chesterton.
"What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?"
-Adam Smith.
"Generally the theories we believe we call them facts, and the facts we disbelieve we call them theories."
-Felix Cohen.
"Millions said the apple fell, but Newton was the one to ask why."
-Bernard M. Baruch.
"The powers of mind are like the rays of the sun dissipated. When they are concentrated, they illumine."
-Swami Vivekananda.
"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress."
-Joseph Joubert.
"Civilization like empire, fall, not so much because of the strength of the enemy outside as through the weakness and decay within."
-Jawaharlal Nehru.
"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death."
-John F. Kennedy.
"Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is promissory note; today is only cash you have- so spend it wisely."
-Key Lyons.
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
-Rabindranath Tagore.
"Success is that old ABC – ability, breaks and courage."
-Charles Luckman.
"To get profit without risk, experience without danger, and reward without hard work, is as impossible as it is to live without being born."
-A. P. Gouthey.
"The real test of power is not capacity of make war but capacity to prevent it."
-AnneOHare McCormick.
"If you would not to be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing."
-Benjamin Franklin.
"Advice is seldom welcome; and those who need it most, always like it the least."
-Chesterfield.
"Action may not bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."
-Benjamin Disraeli.
"When you change your behavior, you change your performance and you change your life."
-Anon.
"If you give what you do not need, it is not charity."
-Mother Teresa.
"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful."
-Ninon De L’englos.
"True beauty consists in purity of heart."
-Mahatma Gandhi.
"There’s only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it."
-Proverb.