What actually is spirituality ?
It means different things to different people and with that I see it as quite be-spoke on how someone connects with the symbolic warmth that is spiritual.
Spirituality is about the different experiences that are part of being human.
It is about a deep seated sense of meaning and purpose in life that connects us with belonging to others and ourselves. This belonging goes further in connecting us to life itself which holds an acceptance. This is about the acceptance of life on life’s terms. All that is deeply personal and offers a sense of wholeness and meaning.
It is the private realm of though and experience that holds certain common themes. Its a process of self discovery and learning that guides you not only to who you are but who you want to be.
It challenges you as it encourages development further then your current limits. This can include being open-minded, and trying to understand the beliefs of others.
It is a connectedness to yourself and others that is personal. At the same time it’s rooted in attachment. However, this attachment is healthy and not ambivalent which is further powerful. This is because people who have suffered difficult attachments with others during their developmental years have a opportunity to experience it differently. So its about healthy attachment which is kind and loving. Spirituality is rooted in being connected with others and with the world around you and this can facilitate you finding “your place in the world”.
Spirituality provides meaning, purpose, direction rather then solve or reach conclusion. It embraces searching, evolving and that life is a process. Therefore, it lives with uncertainty and has an acceptance of life with all its experiences.
It is a higher power whether rooted in a religion, God, nature or some kind of unknown essence.
Spirituality is our journey to finding inner peace, happiness and serenity. With this spiritual practise of some kind is essential for this personal well being.
It offers so much benefit to life emotionally, physically, psychologically and developmentally. It gives purpose and can help with guidance to what you are really passionate about. These positive beliefs with the practise of warmth and all that is symbolic of this can comfort and improve health.
It allows us to better understand our needs from an adult place rather then “acting them out” in “script”. This is about unmet developmental needs and can be destructive as they don’t work. The practise of spirituality can give us what we need in a healthy way which stops the acting out in a negative way which often leaves people deflated, demotivated and disheartened.
This spirituality can be so important in times of distress, emotional stress, physical and mental illness, loss, bereavement, addiction and the approach of death.
Therefore, the practise of Step 11 to improve our conscious contact with “Spirituality” is really important.