Try This

As I sit here looking out on a gloriously sunny Florida morning I am filled with wonder and gratitude. Wonder at the beauty that is all around me - the pinks, reds and whites of the roses, the bright red and purple of the bougainvillea, the orange of the French marigolds and the green of the lawn. Gratitude that I am privileged to be where I am at the time I am and that my eyes and ears, indeed all my senses, are keen enough to make me aware of this beautiful world of which I am a part.

I read a sign on the publicity board of a church as I drove past it earlier, it said "HAVING JOY IS BETTER THAN HAVING FUN!". As I gaze out on this lovely scene I know exactly what the writer of that sentiment means. Having fun is all about outward things, being entertained, using various aids to assist us and by and large it is ephemeral. Having joy is an inner experience. It is the reaction of our inner, higher selves to beauty in whatever form we experience it. It uplifts the spirit and its effects are usually much longer lasting than merely 'having fun'.

Our spirit is the essential us and it is the one part of us we all neglect far too frequently. We fail to recognise that it requires our attention every bit as much as our physical body or our mind. Its demands for attention are much more subtle than the other two however and consequently are much more easily overlooked. The consequence of regularly overlooking the needs of our spirit can be very serious. I believe for instance, that much illness and stress we experience is linked to the lack of balance induced by focusing just on two of the three aspects of our being.

How then should we set about exercising our spiritual nature? We should begin by 'going within' regularly, we should learn simple meditation techniques that will relax us and free our spirit and our imagination. If we do this we will find ourselves becoming much more aware of everything that is going on around us, not just the physical and obvious. We can then spend short periods of time contemplating the world around us. As one poet described it, "Go mark the matchless working of the power, that shuts within the seed the future flower." As we contemplate the world around us, even for short periods, forgetting about our everyday cares and concerns, a deep joy will gradually seize hold of us and our spirits will soar. We will feel uplifted and come to realise just what it means to be an eternal, spiritual being, which is what each one of us is. We will also find we are able to focus much more clearly on our everyday lives and things that formerly caused us great stress and worry, no longer have the power to do so. We will be able to "tell the wheat from the chaff"!

Give it a try. Turn away from the purely physical/mental focus of your life and expand it by including your spirit in your daily exercise. It does not mean you will become "spiritual" or other worldly or people will consider you weird. You will be taking a vital step towards obtaining true control over your life and your being. May God go with you in your efforts.