Spirituality Articles

Spirituality is a broad yet personal topic. Although it can vary as much as people do, spirituality is an important part of figuring out how to be happy.

The Power of Spiritual Love and 22 Ways It Will Change Your Life

by Jared Akers

You’ve probably heard the saying, “We’re spiritual beings having a human experience.” I have no idea who originally said that… but I believe it to be true. Do you?

The first question you should ask yourself before getting too far into this subject is: do you believe you are a spiritual being?

No? (stick around and see what you find)
Yes? (keep reading)

Here’s a guide on Spirituality Without Religion.

Call it intuition, a heightened sense of awareness, enlightenment, etc., the idea that we’re spiritual beings is nothing new yet people still seem confused on what this actually means. For me, it simply means I’m part of something bigger, i.e. I’m not the center of the universe.

Whether we believe this something bigger to be God or some creator, who knows and honestly… who cares. We can live a spiritual life, and find spiritual love, without defining what or why we should believe in something. More importantly, we can allow others to do the same. Now that we have that out of the way…

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Book Review – The Shadow Effect: Illuminating the Hidden Power of Your True Self

by Jared Akers

A few months ago I was sent a copy of the The Shadow Effect (Amazon) co-authored by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson.

If you’ve been a reader of How to Be Happy for any length of time, you know the importance I place on living an authentic life and being true to yourself; specifically we’re as sick as our secrets. Accepting ourselves for who we truly are takes knowing ourselves completely; accepting and dealing with some of the aspects of ourselves which we have kept hidden or are afraid of showing others.

Although none of the information I found in The Shadow Effect was groundbreaking or likely to cause additional transformation in my life, it does a great job of explaining just how and why we often self-sabotage ourselves.

The Shadow Effect is the result of living with a divided self. A self or image we show to the world and one which we keep hidden away due to shame, guilt, or fear. Yet it is from these fears and darkness we have the most to learn. From the introduction:

We will assert that it is because of our unexamined life, our darker self, our shadow self where our unclaimed power lies hidden. It is here, in this least likely place, that we will find the key to unlock our strength, our happiness, and our ability to live our our dreams.

One thing I really enjoyed about the book was the different writing styles and experiences shared by the three different authors.

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Mindfulness In Plain English and the Benefits of Meditation

by Jared Akers

Love yourself and love for others becomes automatic.

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
-Dalai Lama

While researching the term mindfulness as it relates to kindness, I came across an amazing little book titled Mindfulness in Plain English (Amazon *see bottom of post to find out how you can read it online for free) by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana.

Henepola Gunaratana was born in 1927 and became an ordained Buddhist monk at the age of 12 in Sri Lanka and has been teaching and learning ever since; let’s just say he’s qualified.

Since mindfulness is an essential aspect of practicing kindness and meditation facilitates mindfulness, I figured what a better time and place to talk about mindfulness and the benefits of meditation. Plus I couldn’t wait to share all the amazing things I discovered in this great book! [Read more…]

Some Thoughts on Grace

by Jared Akers

I heard someone suggest once that you could experience Grace by planting a seed.

I know how to grow a plant; put a seed in the ground and water it. I don’t know how to get sun or rain. There are just certain things that are out of my control. I used to always think it was ALL me or NOT me at all. Maybe the things that have to come together to allow us and a seed to grow, come into being, or return to the earth is Grace. Initially I looked up Grace at the FreeDictionary.com, but that just confused me. I like this idea of Grace that I heard once on the radio: Grace is God’s reaction to our action. I like that. [Read more…]

Recipe for Happiness

by Jared Akers

The term “recipe for happiness” is interesting… as if you can put in certain ingredients; throw it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and out pops happiness. Sort of like those cooking shows we’ve all seen where they put the dish in the oven and pull the finished product out of the one below it. Could finding happiness really be that easy?

Making Your Happiness Cake

Like any great cake, it starts with great ingredients; what are the ingredients you think we need in our happiness cake? Here are my suggestions:

1 Cup Inner Peace
1 Cup of Spirituality
1 Cup of a Realistic Perspective of Yourself
1 Cup of Gratitude
A Sprinkle of Service Work

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