LESSONS I’VE LEARNED.

The decision to embrace your spirituality must come from within you. No-one else can make the decision for you as it takes a total commitment to be the best you can be. Above all your beliefs must be right for YOU. They may differ slightly from everyone else but that is what personal spirituality is all about.

I am not putting down anyone’s faith here - I truly believe that everyone has a right to their own personal beliefs and I would never say that theirs is wrong and mine is right. As I’ve stated before - theirs is right for them and mine is right for me and I admire people of all creeds and am interested in all religious philosophies. Tolerance is all important.

You will face obstacles from those who will ridicule your spiritual choices. They may not understand your new belief system and find it hard to accept these changes. I know it was hard when I first began to let the family know about my new directions. It was quite unusual for them to be told by their mother that she was going to be out of action with the door closed for about 40 minutes as she needed to meditate. After the first time they became much more at ease about these ‘time out’ sessions as they called them. The hardest part was making the original statement - each time after that it got easier a nd everyone became much less concerned about what mum was doing in the room for all that time!

The other thing I’ve learned which has helped me tremendously is that it is okay to ask for proof. When I was first aware of spiritual things happening around me it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that they were there for me. This lack of belief in oneself and their ability to work with spirit is a very common one and I don’t know anyone has hasn’t questioned themselves and the messages that they get at one time. I know that for a long while I thought that the spiritual things which were happening around me where only figments of my imagination. Because I wanted so badly to be spiritual I was making more of the events than I should have.

Seek validation for things which happen. Ask for signs to show you that you are not purely imagining the events and things which happen around you. It is perfectly okay to do so and is quite necessary to reassure yourself that your mind is not working overtime for no reason. It is also needed so that you can live with integrity and inner peace, knowing that you are working for a higher good.

Another thing which we all must realise is that fact that we can only truly heal ourselves. We cannot heal on behalf of other people. We can assist others in their healing process but we can’t do it for them. True healing must come from within and although there are many things which can help people to heal, ultimately the hard work must be done by the person themselves. They must want to be healed. Now I know many will think that a strange statement, you will say, everyone wants to be healed, but for many reasons people cling to their dis-eases in life and they alone must release them. We can counsel, we can support them but the responsibility lies with them to also look deep within themselves and to deal with the things they find there.

The other thing that you will find happening to you on your spiritual journey is a thing called synchronicity which means ‘meaningful coincidence’. You will find so many things happening which will leave you saying ‘Well isn’t that strange. I was just thinking about . . . I was just talking about . . . That song was going on in my head etc.’ I have this happening to me all the time and so do most other people but not everyone understands how natural this really is - it is not strange at all.

Above all, listen to your own inner voice. Trust your gut instincts. If you feel like wearing certain colours on certain days - follow this feeling. If you want particular scents and fragrances around you - have them. You may find yourself drawn to different music or start buying gemstones which appeal to you where they were once just ‘rocks’.

Meditation might be something you wish to experience, belly dancing, tai chi or yoga, or anything else which will bring you what you are seeking; whether it be tranquillity, exercise, inspiration, harmony etc.

Our thoughts are very powerful and we can be what we choose to be. I won’t say that it will always be easy - no worthwhile experience ever is, but it will be a very rewarding place to be once we get to where we want to go.

The Being we decide to accept in our lives can be called many different things. The Creator, is also called the Universal Mind, Divine Consciousness, Elohim, Ultimate One, Oversoul, The Infinite, The Source, The Power, The Force, The Spiritual Self, The Supreme Being, The God, The Goddess, etc. etc. There is no absolute right or wrong - it is the name you feel comfortable with and which best suits your belief system.