Developing Spiritual Attitude

'Most of us are naturally interested in rising up the spiritual ladder to spiritual self-mastery. A good part of the climb is definitely about shifting your attitudes out of the conditioning of limiting and negative beliefs and adopting values that are deemed spiritually aligned. Spiritual values are those that feed the soul and advance your spirit and human understanding. Striving to become consistently virtuous, spiritually strong, compassionate, generous, self-aware, wise and, of course, happy will steer you towards spiritual excellence.
The mind can be stretched, directed, coached and nurtured to accept a spiritual perspective to life and to adopt attitudes that are aligned with love. But training your mind is only part of the answer. Without your heart actively driving your thoughts, your mind will tend to revert to old conditioning and love will be absent from your thinking. More than "doing the right thing", it is about living a life filled with love—a life that is in the spirit of the "authentic you". You are a unique "love-note" in the universe and it is your task to discover your innate spiritual gifts and to rise in each occasion to use them.
Everyone needs a bit of spiritual coaching to shift the mind out of spiritual deadness and habitual patterns of thinking that are culturally driven. Here are some insights and tips that should offer some food for thought: (we consider one of them today)

¶ Put Yourself First While Still Considering Others

Too many of us believe to be considered compassionate and kind and an all around good person one must submit, sacrifice and consistently put others first whilst depriving oneself from good meant for you. A case in point: An old gentleman in his late seventies moseyed over from the side and cut three places in line at the quick checkout stand of the supermarket in front of a beautiful young girl, who was holding two gift bows and a greeting card with a nun caricature on the front. In back of her and in front of me was a senior citizen who walked with a cane. In fact, I had fallen off a ladder that week and had considerable discomfort standing in line. When I pointed out to the girl that the man cut in front of us, she said, "I don't mind." I am sure she was thinking she was doing what the nuns taught her in catechism: "Age before beauty" or "respect your elders". But the consequence of her allowances for one masterful old man, who I intuitively knew had done the same thing more than once, created stress for four more people in line in back of her.

¶ Know Your World Is Being Created in the Moment to Enlighten You

Life is a meaningful play presenting you with reflections, signs and messages at every turn aimed at advancing you spiritually. You have only to believe it, to open your awareness to it, and to decipher the signs and messages before you. The situation at the supermarket had many layers of meaning. The girl holding the card with the caricature of the nun and the old man who, by the way, had a basket full of Bounty paper towels, were reflections carrying signs. Noticing what was in the man's basket offered another layer of meaning to the situation. He was a "bountiful" man, perhaps because he thought himself deserving. Seemingly then, the message was that there are situations when we need to put ourselves first to collect life's bounty, an attitude adjustment that likely everyone in line needed to appreciate. The greeting card's message didn't become clear until today when I went back to the store to look for it. I knew it held meaning to the situation. When I found it, I couldn't retrieve the message until I combed the store and asked everyone I came across if they could read Spanish. One of the checkout clerks helped me out. The outside of the card read, "It's a sin." The inside read, "that you look so beautiful year after year. " I glanced behind me and noticed a woman wearing a purple tee shirt that read, "More beautiful than words." How many of us grew up thinking it is a sin to be beautiful?'
To be continued....











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