YOUR WORK AND LIFE AS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
January 20, 2009
If you slow down enough to be mindful, you might notice and treasure the spirituality of every day life and every day work. What is spirituality? It is connections -- with your self, with other living thngs, to nature, and to the greater spirit. These connections nourish the soul. When asked in my "Pursuit of Passionate Purpose" research study what brings meaning to life. Most people mentioned two things -- contribution and connections. Contribution is what you get from a pursuit of passionate purpose. Connections are deep caring, meaning relationships. They are the spirit of life and the Connections Strategy is one of the six Success Strategies that facilitate forward movement on your journey. Scott W.Alexander in his book Everyday Spiritual Practice: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life encourages intentional, active, and regular practice by engaging the mind, body, heart, will, and soul. How do you engage and connect? Here are some ways to engage. Engage the mind through meditation, prayer, affirmations, journaling, planning, writing, speaking, and silence. Engage the body through exercise, dance, yoga, eating, singing, and other physical activity. Engage the heart through everyday relationships, grieving, parenting, and partnership. Engage the will through recycling, social justice activities, vegetarianism, volunteering, giving, and working toward a cause. Engage the soul through music, cooking, art, gardening, story telling, and meditation. Passionate purpose optimally engaged your whole self, or spirit, as well as others in the pursuit. The pursuit is consistent with the common myth about the hero's journey. The hero leaves home in service of a worthwhile purpose, encounters obstacles and hindrances, eventually succeeds, and returns home to be of further service. Work and life is our story of living this myth. What is your spiritual maintenance schedule on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis? Have you, like me, built spirituality through engagement and connections into your personal action plan? This practice can bring the peak performance you seek. Begin now! Believe and Act! Theresa M. Szczurek (www.TMSworld.com and www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com)
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