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 Spiritual Awareness for a Better LifeWhen you turn on the television or read the papers, you will notice the universal state of lack and want. People do not have enough resources to feed their families; there are not enough jobs, not enough food, not enough of this, and not enough of that. What there doesn’t seem to be any lack of, however, are the fights and the wars, hatred, cultural and social discriminations, antipathy and the lot. The media is said to be a barometer of what we find interesting; if this is true, then we must find focusing on the negative fascinating and we must also acutely miss what we lack. From the same media that keeps telling us about the how much we lack, we will also hear about the people who have won in the lottery, those who struck oil in their backyards and those who are so materially rich they can do anything they wish. Then we start to daydream about how it would feel if we were in their place, if we were the ones blessed with so much wealth. Unfortunately, if we keep on daydreaming about becoming wealthy, then the only place where we could be really wealthy is in our dreams! Furthermore, if we keep thinking that other people are more blessed than us, we will fail to be grateful for and appreciative of what we already have. Why then would the Universe give us more? Spirituality will teach us that we have more than enough; that we are not lacking in any areas in our lives; and that more will come at the right time. The Grateful AttitudeBeing grateful for what we have is the first step to becoming aware of our spirituality. Our spirits are our inner selves. We usually ignore them until we are faced with the inevitable lesson. Then, we can go on with our old ways or we can face up to our spirituality and recognize that the spiritual life is the only way to go from then on. Awakening our spirit means paying more attention to our inner voice – our conscience, gut feel, intuition, our genuine Self. We should let go of all our past notions about the world we live in and the people in it. We should start with a clean slate and start looking at the positive side of life in spite of our present situations. This is a very hard task for someone who has been used to living a certain way. Thus, the first step is crucial. During this first step, all you need to do is be grateful for what you already have. Do you have a partner who nags you all the time? Be grateful that he or she is there to remind you about your responsibilities. When you start becoming grateful for everything – for the tiniest of blessings and even the very things that hurt you – you will be surprised to see the change in yourself. What used to hurt you will no longer have the power to hurt you. At this point, you will have accepted that not everyone looks at life the same way. Your perceptions differ from others; hence, disagreements are inevitable. Nevertheless, you will also realize that you can disagree with someone on something without being disagreeable. This means you will no longer take things personally. You do not associate the issue to the person’s perception of you. Shifting Your Focus on the PositiveThe world has enough negativity. You are not helping things by contributing your own negative vibes to it. If you look around you, you are sure to find at least ten things you’re not happy about, whether it is something as trivial as the color of your shirt or the wrong time on the clock. The point is if you focus on the negative in things and situations, you will be sure to find them. You know the expression, “don’t go borrowing trouble?” That’s exactly what you will be doing. The more you look for the negative, the more you will see it and the more dissatisfaction you will feel as a result. Start with one complaint and, before the end of the day, you will have complained countless times over so many unimportant matters. If you look for the positive, however, you will realize how good a life you actually have. You’ll notice that just by focusing on the positive side of things – even if everyone else says things are a total disaster – you’ll notice that you feel lighter and better. You will begin to see life in a new light and you will begin to view each day as a gift that’s full of positive things and great possibilities. This paradigm shift will help you become more aware of all the wonderful things and wonderful people in your life. You will also begin to realize that you do not need anything more than what you already have. Be Forgiving of Others and YourselfWhen you’re on your spiritual quest, you will find that sometimes, you can’t keep up. At such times, you may give in to your anger or negativity. Should this happen, do not berate yourself for being weak or losing your focus. As long as you don’t wallow in the negativity and lose all that you have gained, then nothing is lost. Just forgive yourself for slipping, forget about the whole thing and get back on track. Nothing will make you go back to your old ways faster than slipping and never forgiving yourself for it. As you forgive yourself, learn to forgive others, too. Forgive those who have made it rather hard for you to stay on track and those who tempt you to do things you ought not to be doing anymore. Being compassionate towards other people is the ultimate challenge of your spiritual journey. What good is living everything according to your spiritual beliefs if you can’t do it in that one area where it counts the most – loving your neighbours as you love yourself? We are all spiritual beings. Each of us is on our own quest to answer the call of our own spirits. However, we are on different stages of our spiritual journey. Therefore, your spiritual maturity may not match those of the people around you. Gratitude, forgiveness and compassion are three gifts that you have to carry with you as you go on your spiritual journey. They will make it easier for you to keep yourself on your path to spiritual growth. 
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