In the circles I travel in, you hear a lot about living a spiritual lifestyle, or living by spiritual principles. What's this mean? Damned if I can define it easily. It's probably one of the most difficult things to sell to someone who wants to get sober or is just curious about how I did it after being drunk for so long.
I guess I should refer to a dictionary and take it from there. Let's see...I've got a Webster's New World handy. Give me a second to see what the good folks there have to say about what spirituality is. Well they say it's "of the spirit or the soul." Not very friggin' helpful is it? When I was a kid I couldn't use a word in its own definition. Guess it's good to be the dictionary king.
As I said in an earlier post, one of my main problems is my self-centeredness. Stands to reason that any change in my behavior would have to involve a change in my defects . Right? I have to be willing to look outside of my center for guidance. My own self-reliance had failed me repeatedly over the years. Badly. So where do I look for that? Do I need the help of another man to tell me every move to make? More importantly, do I want another person telling me what I should believe and how I should act? What if they're as sick or sicker than me? Yikes! If the answer isn't inside me, why should I be able to find it in them? What if they're on their own journey and are in one of those places where we find ourselves so often, where we have to back up and unlearn something for our own sanity before finding a healthy path again? Kind of risky if you ask me.
I guess the roots of spirituality for me would be the idea that something was in existence outside of the physical realm. Something that may or may not have an interest in me. Now before you religious folks choke, just relax and take a deep breath. You expect us to listen to you and believe, I just want you to listen. I don't care what you believe. Not my business.
It's not that I don't think a religious person can be spiritual. The evidence I've seen show's otherwise. I've met Muslim, Native American, Hindu and even the odd Christian here and there who are obviously being guided by something more than the average soul can lay claim to. More often than not, religion gets in the way though. Folks tend to worry more about who's following the rules closer than about trying to get to know whatever is out there. My advice is to try to separate yourself from religion as much as possible. If whatever is there wants, it'll come sit down next to you and hammer out some stone tablets regarding your behavior. I know I would. Let go of what you've been told and let something bigger than any of us take over. If you can't bring yourself to do that you're either chicken or just not interested in finding the truth. I'm not asking you to abandon any faith you have, just consider that you might not have all the answers. Face it, how are you going to get to know something you think has already been neatly packaged and explained for you? Would you rather I told someone all about you? What you like, what you want etc...etc...? Or would you rather that person let you tell it? That's what I thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment