self-mastery
The Truth About Spiritual Growth
One increasingly sees social media influencers and self-appointed gurus preaching personal growth and development online. It has become a fad to sell such growth courses, services and products. But do these offerings represent and promote true spiritual growth?
Material growth can indeed be achieved with some discipline, determination, further education, hard work and proper use of one’s mental faculties. However, spiritual growth is a different matter. It cannot be bought, learned, or achieved with temporary efforts, for it is an organic, lifelong growth process. Always seeking with sincerity, patience and humility is to grow spiritually.
Our spiritual growth is something we are solely responsible for, and it is a process in which you alone can be your worst enemy, or best ally. This is the kind of growth where the reality of what you have been attracting into your life is exposed over time. Regardless of your choices, the only one who bears the responsibility and consequences is you.
Spiritual evolution is highly personal and individual. Other people and external situations cannot secure your spiritual expansion in this lifetime. It may be that the people and circumstances in your life are currently not resonating with you. If you want to grow spiritually and attract more of what you want, instead of what you do not want, trying to force situations or change other people is pointless.
The true spiritual seeker must also take care not to become caught up in a ‘savior mentality’ of thinking you need to save or open the minds of everyone around you. The spiritual choices of another is not your duty or responsibility. Your only responsibility is to personally evolve and inspire others by example through your own attitude and achievement.
There Is Nothing To Worry About!
We seem to live in troubled times. In my part of the world, we have recently experienced the passing of our beloved queen, the resignation of two prime ministers, and the continuing effects of a global economic recession. So much to worry about, right?
True, but only from a limited human viewpoint. From the spiritual perspective, we need not worry about what tomorrow may bring, because we can trust in God, Source, Spirit, the Divine to support and guide us, and to positively orchestrate things on our behalf.
As a Christian, I have faith in the Almighty having my back every step of the way. In the New Testament of The Bible, Jesus Christ makes it very clear why we should not worry about what lies ahead. In Matthew 6 he says:
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin…Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
As a professional psychic, many clients consult me because they are fearful or anxious about what will or will not happen in their future. Worrying about the future is of course understandable, yet there are both spiritual and practical reasons why it is best not to do so:
Quick Ways To Pick Yourself Up
We all have bad days. We get disappointing news or have an unpleasant interaction with someone. We all encounter setbacks and dark moments from time to time, as we journey through physical life. It’s part of the human experience.
These negative events may seem unfortunate, or even unnecessary when they occur, but they actually serve to create balance in our life. Without these contrasts we would never appreciate all the good things.
The important thing, however, is to not dwell on the negativity or misery, but to bounce back into alignment with our truth and the abundance and healing power of Spirit as soon as possible.
Some of my favorite ways to quickly pick myself up when I am feeling down include:
Inspirational Words
I love Unity Church’s Daily Word for this. I carry it around with me in my purse for just such occasions. You can also get it as an app for a smartphone. The short, daily reminders feature uplifting affirmations and a brief paragraph or two of inspirational writing on the theme for the day. I always find that they contain just what I needed to hear at that moment to help me gain a new, more positive outlook.
Putting Yourself In Time-Out Can Be A Blessing!
When children and teenagers do something that really ticks off their parents, what do they get? Well, they get grounded, or put in time-out, of course! That’s right, kids are given an opportunity to think about the errors of their ways, learn from their mistakes and protect them from their own bad choices.
I remember one day, when I was still a teenager and I was really, really wanting to go out with a frien. She knew a cute boy who just got his own car. They were going to go cruising down this stretch of road that was popular with the local cool kids. I wanted to go so badly, but I got grounded and I was really upset.
But strangely, I also somehow felt relieved that I couldn’t go that day. I sensed that something bad might happen if I did. My mother told me the next day that the boy was tragically killed in an accident with his new car. I would have been with him in the car that night, had I gone out with them. I was only 15 years old at the time, and my life would have been over, or forever changed. I was so glad that my mother grounded me for my own good and that I was still healthy and alive.
I can think of a few times I experienced divine intervention in this way. Since that day there have been several times in my life that I intuitively decided to say no to opportunities, invitations, and even temptations. There are in fact occasions noted in personal journals when I had opted to do something else than was in the offering by way of friends or acquaintances. Later it would become clear that I probably would not have enjoyed myself very much anyway, or I may not have even lived to tell the tale!
Many times, by simply paying attention to the little voice within that says to me, “Get up and leave now,” or acknowledging my negative feelings regarding a certain person, place or situation, I have avoided much trouble in my life.
The Karmic Trap Of Temptation
I love stories that inspires one to look at life differently. I had the pleasure of hearing just such a tale recently, and it was all about temptation.
Imagine Temptation unexpectedly knocking at your door one evening, bearing a gift-wrapped box. He bids you a good day and asks you to invite him into your home. He then offers you the box as a gift and tells you that every time you were to press a button on this box, it will immediately dispense $1,000! You will never have to worry about money again.
But with such an unusually generous gift there is bound to be a catch! Temptation then informs you that every time you press the money box button, a homeless person somewhere in a poverty-stricken community will pass away.
Temptation reassures you however that all people must die sooner or later. And besides, no harm will come to you or your family. You could even use some of the free money to help the disadvantaged in your own community! So, what do you have to lose?
Being human, we are all tempted from time to time. The question is, would you accept such a gift and press the button? Or would you tell Temptation to take the box and leave?
I remember my late mother telling me that when I was about two years old, she kept my baby stroller outside, in the garden, as she had nowhere else to store it when I no longer needed it. It stood there for many weeks, until a struggling young couple knocked on our front door (the woman appeared to be heavily pregnant) and offered to buy the stroller.
Make It Happen Every Day
We have the ultimate ability to forge our own spiritual path in this lifetime, regardless of perceived limitations. As life is lived, important karmic lessons are learned and it is always your free will choice as to how fully you embrace your surroundings and opportunities.
Your experiences will depend on the lessons you choose to learn, the people with whom you interact and the ultimate goals you envision achieving.
To make the most of this incredible journey, spirit invites us to implement the following strategies:
Learn from all your experiences. Rejoice in the ability to create your reality and celebrate your successes, but do not judge your mistakes, nor your supposed failings. Reframe it instead into lessons.
Rejoice in all accomplishments. Even the smallest achievements lead to much greater opportunities. Never criticize your lack of visible success.
Lead by example. Be your best self today and encourage others to do the same for themselves.
Be kind to yourself. Aim for personal balance so that you can give more freely to others.
Be of service. Give so that your heart becomes truly free. Take giant strides in life and make your mark with love and integrity. Don’t let life pass you by.
Evaluate carefully. Think and make wise choices. Step back from the precipice of judgment long enough to gain solid insight before making a definitive move. You are much stronger than you realize. When confusion reigns, ask spirit for support and guidance.
The Powerful Magic Inside
Every human being has powerful magic inside, and part of my job is to teach people how to use that magical energy. I understand the term ‘magic’ is somewhat of a loaded word, so let me re-frame it. Jesus called if faith and told us that with a small amount of faith we can move mountains. Buddha called it thought manifestation and explained that our conscious thought produces our reality.
How we focus our energy will eventually manifest in one way or another in our lives. For some people this implies ‘darkness’ or ‘evil.’ Darkness does exist, but I believe that it exists only as a catalyst to increase our vibrational frequency if we are ready to do so.
My personal belief is that darkness cannot ‘stick’ if there is nothing for it to stick to. This is why, when discussing lower vibrational frequencies, the best action is to increase your vibration. In my view there is really no war of light versus dark, or good versus evil. We can turn on the lights and then if there is something that needs to be cleaned up, we can clean it up. The darkness does not struggle when the lights come on. It just goes away.
For nearly all problematic circumstances our primary goal should be to change our consciousness and increase our vibrational frequency. It is quite rare that we are we taught to use this magic in everyday life.
There have been many spiritual teachers that have talked about it in the past, as I stated above. Jesus had enough magic (faith) to walk on water and Buddha could exert his magic (consciousness) to tame a wild elephant.