Spiritual Growth

Welcome back to the The Spiritual Serenity Series: 7 Steps to Inner Peace and Happiness. Last week we looked at the first step, Awareness. This week we’re looking at: Step 2: Acceptance As a result of step one, Awareness, we’re now aware that we need to change some aspect of our life in order to [...]

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In the coming weeks I will explore the process of finding inner peace and happiness; as it has worked for me. I have broken the process down into seven steps: 1. Awareness 2. Acceptance 3. Identification 4. Self-Searching 5. Confession 6. Action 7. Maintenance “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what [...]

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I am six years old and shivering as I glare at the freezing water from the edge of a pool. It is 7:30 a.m. and I am supposed to be in the water with the rest of the students… and my mother. Scared and cold, I muster every bit of courage I have, and jump. [...]

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Back in the early 90’s I was as a zookeeper. Each Spring we would transport the Spider Monkeys  from the indoor tropical building to a wonderful outdoor enclosure with trees and grass. Yay for the spider monkeys! Since none of us spoke Spider Monkey, we couldn’t really tell them what we were doing. For all [...]

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Sometimes we fall backwards, or so we think. Everyone makes mistakes right? So why are we sometimes more forgiving of others than we are of ourselves? “Each day is a day of progress, steady progress forward, if you make it so.” – Twenty-Four Hours a Day (Hazelden Education Materials) March 31st Everyone makes mistakes, including [...]

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Emulate tr.v., -lat·ed, -lat·ing, -lates. 1. To strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation: an older pupil whose accomplishments and style I emulated. I once had a psychiatrist tell me, “Jared, find someone successful you admire and do what they do.” My inner voice said, “You’re full of crap lady. I’m unique, I’m going [...]

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For years I resisted change. If it was uncomfortable, I avoided it. After all, it was all about me. Two rationalizations I made often: I’m shy I work better alone Here’s how I see these two rationalizations today: I’m shy I was making everything about me, how about getting outside of myself for a minute [...]

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Yesterday, after my morning prayer & meditation, I wrote down a passage from “The Christmas Sweater” by Glenn  Beck. I wrote it down to share with a group of people I would be speaking to that afternoon. The passage is dialog between little Eddie, the main character, and his mother. Eddie is upset about his [...]

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