My Spiritual Realm

I have been looking at my plans for spiritual renewal by looking at the spiritual checklist.  Again, i have been working on some areas for a while and others not so much.

I see myself as spiritual and do not follow any particular religion but i respect all.  For me, ‘God’ or a ‘higher power’ is manifested within ourselves and is otherwise known as Love, Compassion and Kindness.  I believe once we can be and do these things without condition, this is when we will ‘transcend’, ‘become enlightened’, ‘be in heaven’.

I have a good idea of what my values are such as the ones mentioned above (kindness, compassion etc) but I have not yet sat down and written it down. I also don’t think I live by them as much as i should. I don’t always take the time to stop and think before I do things or make decisions.  Also some values are really difficult to integrate into your life, for example integrity.  I work in a very female dominated environment and it can be quite bitchy. As much as I try to stay out of the gossip circles, sometimes you inevitably get drawn in.  I would love for that to stop happening and I would love to have the courage to stand up for the person not present who is being talked about.  So I need to sit down and look at each value individually and look at how to incorporate it and see what needs changing.

Again, i have a rough idea about how I would like my life to turn out (at least at this present moment!). But I have not yet sat down to write a mission statement.  An area that I’m completely lost with is my career.  I just don’t know what I want to do (I’m 35!).  I love what I do now but I have this niggling feeling that it is not what I’m supposed to be doing!  I never had an idea as a youngster about what i wanted to be when I grew up, so I’ve just tried out a lot of different things.  I’ve been in my current job for ten years and I enjoy it but I’m there because it’s convenient and comfortable if I’m honest with myself.

I find daily renewal through meditation.  I am currently on Day 20 of Headspace and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far (I have a 1 month free trial voucher code if anyone is interested).  I would also like to study something that interests me probably informally rather than formally.  I have no idea what though so I need to have a think about that.  I would also like to start some kind of reflective journal.  I have started many journals and I always get frightened that someone will find it and read it so I end up stopping and disposing of it.  I guess I could have a password protected computer journal!  Also, my blog will be quite reflective in many ways.

My place for spiritual renewal is in nature so I need to find somewhere I can go local to me and make regular time in my scheedule to be there.

I work with adults with profound, multiple learning disabilities so I spend most of my days doing service for others which is very rewarding and humbling.  This is paid work so it would be nice to have something else I do without any kind of return.  I’m really interested in random acts of kindness so would like to do more in this area.  I would also like to encourage my children to do something like this and I have found some great resources on Random Acts of Kindness.

On my list of goals so far I have the following items:

1. Plan and live life according to my values.  (Obviously this can be broken down into numerous goals with a bit of thought.)
2. Create a mission statement.
3. Follow Headspace daily meditation. (Day 20! Yay!)
4. Study something that interests me.  Take a look at OU free courses and Khan Academy etc.)
5. Start a writing process, journaling, blog. (Underway!)
6. Spend regular time in nature.  Look into local walks, woodland etc.
7. Find ways to serve others including work, home and school.  Random acts of kindness.
8. Start a gratitude journal.

There is quite a lot to do for this one but i have to remember it is all about the journey, not the destination!