I’ve been on a new
quest during the latent stages of my life. That quest is to be more spiritual.
I have been reading, watching TV shows, and thinking about spirituality. Just
recently I have come across Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday where she was
discussing spirituality with three new up and coming spirituality gurus:
Gabrielle Bernstein author of Spirit
Junkie, Mastin Kipp blogger of The Daily Love, and Marie Forleo creator
of Marie TV. I learned quite a bit about my quest: What is spirituality,
really? Do I have to go to church every Sunday to have spirituality? How can I
be sure I have spirituality? These new gurus answered all my questions and
more.
Spirituality is how
loving one is. Spirituality is loving and accepting all even during the bad
times. People first find spirituality through religion but to expand that one
must bring one’s heart and love to every part of their day, even those days one
wonders why one woke up. Religion is something one is taught and spirituality
is something one learns and teaches oneself. One can be spiritual without going
to church every Sunday. (I always feel guilty about that one.)
To become spiritual
one must do three things. First, as Joseph Campbell (The spirituality gurus of
all spirituality gurus) says, “follow your bliss” and one needs to bring
passion to everything one does. Next, one must be grateful for what one has in
life instead of whining about what is missing. Then pay attention! One needs to
give one’s full attention to whatever is happening at any moment. Stop texting
while driving, listening to a friend or talking to a store clerk. Finally, one
can’t be afraid to take risks when following one’s bliss. “The cave you fear to
go in, holds the treasure that you seek.” – Joseph Campbell
When I think of who
would be my spirituality role models I would have to say it would be both my
sisters, Caren and Chris. Years ago when Caren accepted Christ into her life
she said, “It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.” I
believe that was God telling her that he loved her and she was going to be
okay. At that moment she was given validation to be who she is. Caren does
everything with passion from playing golf to making friends with every store
clerk or bank teller in which she comes in contact. Caren has two jobs and she
doesn’t even need to have one. She goes to those jobs with a love for what she
has to do. Work is not work to her. It is an opportunity to meet new people and
spread her passion for life to others. Caren makes friends with everybody.
There will be a time when I will wait in the car while she just runs into the
store to get something and she’ll not come back for an eternity saying, “Sorry
but I was talking to my friend in the produce department,” and when I ask,
“What friend?” She’ll respond, “The guy I just met next to the chile peppers!”
Caren will ask perfect strangers over for dinner. She loves everybody and
everything with all her heart. Then there is my older sister Chris, who loves
everybody. If she could, I think she would kiss every client on the way out of
the office and say, “God be with you and buckle your seatbelt,” but my nephew
and her son Michael who happens to also be her boss wouldn’t like that. Chris
has faced many hardships over the years but has always looked at those
hardships as a direction to a new path that she needed to take in her life. On the spirituality scale of one to ten
I think these “sistahs” are both a nine.
On the spirituality
scale I think I am about a 5.5. I try to be passionate about everything, but
then I think about my new experience teaching Saturday school (subject of a new
blog) and I believe I let those kids suck the spirit out of me. I don’t do well
at paying attention. I am always thinking about fifty things at one time and
especially, how I am going to respond that I don’t really listen. Honestly, I
have trouble loving everybody. I guess I might be a 3.5 on that scale. The only
way to go is up and besides I love a challenge!
I personally
believe that we all must find the spirit in spirituality. Not the “Holy Spirit”
but the “rah, rah, sis, boom, bah” spirit. Just think, if we all gave a cheer
on the way to work or before getting in the dentist’s chair. What would happen
if we kept that cheerleader smile on all day long? How would people feel, if we
continually cheered them on? Give me an S, give me a P, give me an I, give me
an R, given me another I, give me a T. What’s that spell? S-P-I-R-I-T!
Paco’s Perspective
Sitting on
someone’s lap is my bliss. I pay attention to when it is dinnertime. I love
that everybody loves me.
The Flip Side
Chasing lizards is
my bliss, duh! I pay attention to lizards. I love lizards and dinner. Give me
an L, give me an . . . I don’t know how to spell lizard.
