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.

From Fear to Love: A Spiritual Journey

by Jared Akers

I‘ve been searching for practical tools and exercises on how to best initiate the walk along a spiritual journey or path for quite some time. A few days ago, after reading his free report on transforming fear, I came across Dr. Tim Ong’s eBook “From Fear to Love: A Spiritual Journey.”

I come across products like this all the time, yet I’ve always felt that a spiritual journey is too intimate or personal to put into a one-size-fits-all type program. And as I’ve discussed some ways to increase our spirituality through practical prayer, and other techniques on spiritual growth, I was still in search for something easily understood that could be practiced by anyone from any faith or walk of life. So I decided what they heck, what do I have to lose? So I purchased this product and gave it a thorough review. I must say I was really impressed. [Read more…]

Dr. Wayne Dyer’s The Shift and the Realization That Everything You Need is Already Within You

by Jared Akers

Last night my wife and I watched the Dr. Wayne W. Dyer movie The Shift (Amazon).

The main message is that we all seek fulfillment or purpose, but need help sometimes from what Dr. Dyer describes as a quantum moment.

The Shift happens after this quantum moment as we shift from living in the morning of our lives—driven by ego—into the afternoon—living on purpose; while everything in the morning was a lie.

The movie opens with Dr. Dyer getting out of bed and his first words are; “thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Gratitude, a most powerful action.

The term “living life on purpose,” previously meant something else to me. I associated it with intent, ambition, and drive. You know, waking up and living life on purpose! Today it means something totally different: living life on purpose; as in on task or in the zone of what my purpose is. [Read more…]

Don’t Get Caught Overdrawn! Making Deposits into Your Spiritual Bank Account

by Jared Akers

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.

Robert Browning Hamilton

Desperation and pain are great motivators. I hear it over and over from people in recovery; we don’t work hard at changing something—like character defects—until they cause us great pain or sorrow. Why is that?

One reason may be because it’s uncomfortable. And as I’ve learned; change is usually not hard, just uncomfortable. Maybe we’re scared of what we’ll find. Or, worse yet, if we accept something we’ll have to do something about it. Crap.

But with time and practice, we learn to let these unpleasant experiences teach us how to become human. How to accept life on life’s terms and that it is possible to surface on the other side with grace and dignity.

When things are going great, we have little need to make withdraws from our spiritual bank account. Yet many times we fail to make deposits during these times as well. Spiritual growth is often not our first priority when things are going good. Hence the term, “pain is the touchstone of all spiritual growth.” It doesn’t have to be.

Its important when times are good to make sure we’re continuing to grow spiritually and making deposits into our spiritual bank accounts. This insures that when (not if) we need to make a significant withdraw, we’re not spiritually bankrupt.

Have you made any deposits today?

photo credit: Betsssssy

Spiritual Growth: The Willingness to Change

by Jared Akers

Hiding behind the idea that I was shy, I missed out on many opportunities for spiritual, personal, or emotional growth. When I started a new job several years ago, my life coach suggested that I introduce myself to three new people in my office every morning for the first two weeks at my new job. I thought he was crazy, “that’s not like me, don’t you know I’m shy?” His response, “Jared, it’s not about you.”

“The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.”
Bill W., July 1965 As Bill Sees It, p. 115

There are many forms of self-centeredness and selfish behavior, such as self-loathing and shyness which I often confused with humility or something else; but not self-centeredness. Regardless of my intention, I was making everything about me. When I get out of myself—like introducing myself to new people no matter how uncomfortable it is—I change for the better. For me, better means placing myself in more opportunities to be of service to others—which can feel really uncomfortable at times.

From the movie Peaceful Warrior (affiliate link):
Dan: “Hey Socrates, if you know so much, why are you working at a gas station?”
Socrates: “It’s a service station. We offer service. There’s no higher purpose.”
Dan: “… Than pumping gas?”
Socrates: “Service to others.” [Read more…]

Live and Let Live: 9 Ways of Letting Go

by Jared Akers

Recently I was involved in a discussion on the topic of Live and Let Live. The term live and let live can be viewed in several ways, but basically it means letting go and stop trying to control others. Let them live their lives just as you want to live yours. Guess it’s sort of back to the golden rule.

I think the Free Dictionary sums it up nicely, “to accept other people as they are, although they may have a different way of life”

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear someone say “live and let live” is the song “Live and Let Die” by Gun’s and Rose’s. I know it was originally performed by Paul McCartney and Wings for the James Bond film, but that’s where my head goes. But the next place it goes is the Serenity Prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

For me, this prayer and mindset can be used in almost any situation. So my list of 9 ways could simply be, say this prayer 9 times. But that’s too easy, so here’s a list of ways you can practice live and let live: [Read more…]