Spirituality VS Materialism and Sexuality

I’ve got an uncommon viewpoint (well so far from the things I’ve seen) regarding material possessions and sexuality in relation to spirituality. Now over the course of my life, I’ve seen over and over from those who are knee deep in some religions (not trying to start a war just telling what I’ve seen) and those who consider themselves to be just “spiritual” (whatever that may mean to you). I’ve seen an overwhelming rush of ideas that all express that in order to be spiritual you have to be above desiring material possessions and ignore or avoid being interested in sex. But my question is, why?

So here’s a little background on my POV regarding these subjects and if you don’t agree…well that’s fine with me. Anyway, from a huge portion of what I’ve seen and read I believe that a lot of beliefs will agree that we are spiritual beings housed in physical bodies. Check. Also a lot of us believe that when we come here we in some ways lose touch with that spiritual part of ourselves and often have to work to get back in touch with that inner part of ourselves. Check. Some of us also believe that the spirit or nonphysical part of us communicates with us in one way or another (your mileage may vary on the technique you believe is used for this communication). However a tremendous amount of people also believe that we are supposed to spend our entire life times going back to being strictly spiritual beings, while still on earth and forgo our earthy desires of physical intimacy and desire for material possessions. Again, I want to ask, why?

Here’s just something that came to me when I was doing a bit of reasoning after a session of reading. If we came here to experience living in physical bodies, why are we supposed to forgo all the pleasures of living in a physical world? Clearly we can’t do it in nonphysical form or why would we need these bodies? So if our souls truly want to experience life in the physical realm why are we cheating ourselves of these experiences? Our souls/inner beings/source (whatever you want to call it) provide guidance that lets us know if the experiences we are having are for our highest good or not, why do we impose additional constraints on this already perfect guidance? I mean this guidance is from the source, it is divine and can never be “wrong.”

I believe that most of us are sensitive enough to realize when we are receiving our divine guidance so when we receive it we should pay attention, as it will never lead us in the wrong direction or a direction that would cause us harm. So if our guidance is telling us that an experience is going to be good, but we ignore it, why is that considered righteous? How is ignoring or going against something that feels natural and right down deep in your gut a good thing?  On the other hand why are we considered to be irresponsible, wrong, selfish (etc) if we decide to go with what feels natural and right? I don’t think it’s unspiritual to have and enjoy sex or material possessions, just as I don’t think it’s spiritual to ignore what comes natural. I believe that we know what feels right and what feels wrong and it’s a truly spiritual person that can interpret that guidance for themselves and except themselves as they are and follow the path of their desires to a fulfilling and happy life, whatever it may be for each individual person. Just a little something to think about.

Love, 

Quote of the Week

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” Ayn Rand

I think this quote is made of awesome fabulousness. I saw it posted a while ago and thought I’d steal it. I’m starting to believe that some of our competitive natures are actually hindering our ability to achieve and/or manifest our desires. I believe it’s one thing to participate in healthy competition when in contest or playing a game, but when everything in life starts to become about beating someone else or being better than someone else, I think we are playing a dangerous game.

The way I see it, competition is (for the most part) about comparing yourself to someone else. What do I have to do to get ahead of, beat or be better than this person?  When your whole life becomes about comparing your accomplishments to someone else’s I believe that is setting yourself up for failure. Someone else may do something differently or faster but that doesn’t mean they do it better and vice versa.

Wouldn’t it be better if instead of looking at someone else’s life for guidance we looked to our own true inner selves instead? What if we decided to look into our own hearts, acknowledge the things that truly make us happy and strive to create those things in the best manner for our own wellbeing and desires? Perhaps if we used our own lives, experiences, progresses and feelings as a gauge for how we’re doing instead of someone else’s we might actually appreciate the strides we’ve made toward our goals. Instead of caring more about comparing our journey to someone else’s, I believe it would be much more beneficial to just enjoy the one we are on and appreciate our own precious achievements. Self-love, come on let’s get with it.

Comfort

There are times in life when we all need a little comfort. As much as we all want to be strong and positive all the time, sometimes we just get down… and it’s okay. But what do we do to pick ourselves back up? It’s one thing to fall, but it’s another to stay and wallow in the dirt. Wallowing only allows time for more negativity to sprout and grow roots within our minds. Though there may be many things that have the potential to get me down, there are also many, that have the potential to lift me up… if I allow them to.

One of my favorite and most effective methods of getting my mind right, is to clear my mind as much as possible. If I’m not focusing on anything in particular, then I can’t be focused on anything bad. I’ve also noticed that my mind and body both feel more at ease when I ease up on my focus. Even when we are focused on something good, if we press to hard we can focus the fun right out of it. Sometimes we just have to let go of the control and go with it (whatever it may be). If clearing my mind doesn’t work I find something else I love to do like playing with my kids, calling a good friend, listening to music, watching or reading a nice romance (happily ever after how can you go wrong with that), learning to cook a new dish from scratch (talk about something to consume your mind) and there is always retail therapy. So the next time you feel a little off or down try distracting yourself with something you like or even nothing at all and see how it goes. You may be surprised at the results.

Love,

Quote of the Week

"Faith is to believe what you do not see the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." Saint Augustine

Nicely put, sweet, simple and to the point. For many people, (sometimes me depending on the situation) this simplistic yet powerful concept seems too easy or too good to be true. “You mean all I have to do is believe in myself and I can achieve anything, no matter how big or small?” Yep, that’s what it means. The thing is, even when many of us think we’re believing in ourselves, we aren’t. We’re busy worrying and doubting whether or not we can have something or are worthy of it. But who decides our worthiness? Well I guess it depends. Some of us allow society to tell us how worthy we are to have things. Do you have the right background, the perfect credit score, an agreeable attitude? And some have started to break that mold and decide that no matter what, they are going to have the things they want. Regardless, the quote doesn’t mention any hoops to jump through or anyone (or any being) we have to please before we can reap our reward. The quote just says that if you believe it then you can manifest it. I love it!

Truth

The truth hurts… or does it? I really just wanted to expand on this idea, more than I did on my facebook page. For as long as I can remember I’ve heard the statement regarding the truth hurting. But to me it’s never really made any sense. Then I decided to take my thoughts a little deeper. There are those who have no idea what the truth really is and there are those who know what the truth is but don’t want to accept it. I feel this to be the case regarding many situations, but to me the biggest case of denial tends to remain in the spiritual realm. I’m not speaking of the acceptance of various religious beliefs, but of self-realization and spirituality.

Basically, from birth I have been taught that my thoughts/attitude are what cause the creation of my reality. Over the course of my life, (though I am fairly young if you pay attention the numbers in my age), through experience and reading books such as: The Law of Attraction Series, Creative Visualization, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, just to name a few, I’ve learned that this is in fact the truth. However this philosophy implies that I must take full responsibility for my life, even the parts that I feel aren’t so great at the moment. I have come across many people who don’t like this philosophy because the prospect of taking that responsibility is daunting, discoursing, bothersome, etc.

The thing is, even when we don’t want to accept the truth it doesn’t stop the truth from becoming. Our thoughts will continue to create our reality whether we want to be responsible for them and the outcomes that they produce or not. So in essence when we are living in the dark (regardless of the reason) the truth of the way things exists will always come back to bite us (oh yes, with really big sharp teeth). So in that case, life or the truth will continue to hurt us if we continue to remain oblivious or live in denial. However when we accept the truth, that no one can create in our own personal existences, except us individually, and we become more aware of how the universe works, the truth takes on a whole new light. We know, that what we’re experiencing is a direct result of our thoughts and attitudes, thus there is no reason to be upset about life, and there is no reason to cast blame. We can from there, decide to wallow in the seemingly bad things we’ve created or learn from them, in order to create a happy, joyous experience in which the truth will only service to aid is in our wonderful manifestations. The choice is ours.

Love,

Quote of the Week

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw

Holy cow! I’ve never viewed communication from this perspective before, but as soon as I read it, it resonated with me. How many times have any of us had a conversation or correspondence with someone, only to feel you’ve left off where you began, run in circles, made no progress, you get me right? How many times have any of us had a heated “discussion” about our personal views with someone who had opposing views? During these times, do you think we spend more time trying to find something of value to take away from the experience or trying to “convert” someone to our beliefs? I mean so many of us believe our beliefs are “right.” Come on, admit it, I know we’ve all been there a time or two and it sucks each and every time.

Well anyway, now I prefer to think that communication should be a dialogue between two or more people, where everyone is trying to find some common ground, actually hear what the other parties are saying and understand them. Even still, if you can’t agree completely, at least try to broaden your horizons, before condemning something you may not have known about or tried. So many want just their voice to be heard. So many just want to be RIGHT, when really, is that what’s most important?

If we take a chance on someone else’s point of view what exactly do we have to lose? What does it hurt to hear out someone else’s thoughts and opinions? Then have a healthy dialogue or even debate as long as you are actually listening to the other person, instead of only focusing on preparing your next argument, because there is no way their opinions could be valid for you? I think I’ll take heed to this quote the next time I’m in a discussion with someone of an opposite view point. It would be fabulous if I take away something of value from every interaction instead of just plane ole’ frustration.