All My Good Intentions-Daily Meditation 3.13.23
Today’s quotation:
For all my good intentions, there are days when things go wrong or I fall into old habits. When things are not going well, when I’m grumpy or mad, I’ll realize that I’ve not been paying attention to my soul and I’ve not been following my best routine.-Robert Fulghum
Today’s Meditation:
My spirit. Do we have a soul that we pay attention to and care for, or are we souls who are only inhabiting a body for a while for some reason that we’re only vaguely aware of? If we are spirits by nature, then whoever caused us to be distracted so much by the world that we neglect entirely our true natures has done an excellent job–most of us have completely forgotten that we’re much, much more than just this body on this planet for the time being.
When we neglect our true nature, we suffer greatly because we don’t do the things that our spirits–our true selves–really need to thrive. And what do our true selves need? They need beauty; they need to give and witness compassion and love. Instead of reading another novel about a serial killer, perhaps we could throw an inspiring novel of hope and courage into the mix. Instead of sitting down to another evening of television, we could take a walk or see a live show– theater or music–and witness other human beings creating art right before us. Or maybe we could sit quietly for an evening, enjoying soft music or even–just maybe–silence.
Many of our worst moods are attributable to a lack of balance in our lives. Sometimes it’s diet, sometimes it’s sleep, sometimes it’s working too much–but often it’s because we neglect what we are at our core. That part of us needs nourishment, also, and it’s up to us to provide that nourishment positively and purposefully.
I don’t believe that we’re people who have souls–I believe that we’re souls inhabiting bodies. It’s very easy for us to forget this, though, amongst all the messages our world sends out to us constantly, urging us to buy, consume, and live in specific ways. The spirit’s needs are simple, but they are still needs, and it’s essential that we don’t neglect them.
Questions to consider:
Why do so many of us forget our spiritual sides?
What can you do today to nurture your spirit–the essence of who you are?
How might we shift our focus from the material world to the spiritual world everywhere?
For further thought:
No one can define the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the sense of something higher than ourselves, something that stirs thoughts, hopes, and aspirations that go out to the world of goodness, truth, and beauty. The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it–to remain, children of light.-Albert Schweitzer,
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is right here.
