From pretty much day one of this
kung fu journey, we became aware that there is both a physical and mental
aspect to our training. However, what
about the third, and in my opinion, the most important, the spiritual
aspect? I realize that this is very individual and
varies greatly from person to person.
For myself, my spiritual life and faith is of great importance, it truly
is the piece of the puzzle that brings everything together. It gives purpose and meaning to what I do, it
gives direction and peace, it gives hope and a future. This spiritual part is the one that many
times isn’t mentioned for differing reasons, whether it’s a lack of awareness,
the idea that you may offend someone or just the desire to keep it to ones
selves. I don’t write this to argue what
belief is truth, but rather to state the fact that when the physical, mental
and spiritual are in harmony there is no end to the success we can have.
As I look at different moments in
my life, I see that my most successful, most peaceful and those moments most full
of joy and contentment are when I am where I needed to be spiritually. These are the moments when the physical and
mental were kept in check and moving in a positive direction, all three working
in harmony. Then there are the times
when I get caught up in the busyness and chaos of life around me and find
myself more aware than ever of a most integral piece missing. These are the times of missed moments and
missed opportunities. They are also the
times when my perspective has a tendency of being a little more negative and in
turn, my actions and reactions are ones I am not very proud of.
So what difference can faith
make? I believe having faith gives you
power, power to change the direction and outcome. I believe it can promote tolerance, respect,
understanding and an improvement of values.
I believe it gives people hope and with that hope the perseverance to
continue living a life that is positive, encouraging and inspiring to those
around us. To live without faith of any
kind seems hopeless and somewhat purposeless to me. The thought that my words
and actions don’t make a difference either way, gives me little reason to ever
make wise and thoughtful choices. It
makes my existence seem of little importance.
We have enough negative and destructiveness in our world; do I really
want to be a part of and responsible for what is wrong? As hard as it may be some days, I need to
make the conscious decision to listen to that part of me that requires my
mindful attention. I need to continue to
feed and delve deeper in my spiritual life in order to grow and have the
harmony I need.
In a world where there never
seems to be enough time and one full of distractions, it is easy to get pulled
in the opposite direction of where our heart wants to lead us. It is more important than ever to develop and
grow this area of our lives. It is
guaranteed to change our attitude, our approach and our success.
Alana Regier
http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca
