What does it mean to be spiritual?   For me, it means being true to myself.  To be me.   To be authentic.   To be able to say the I love who I am and I am at peace.   Once you can say that, you will notice the world around you looks different.  It takes on a whole new vibe.   You notice things that you would never notice before.  The world around you becomes alive.

I will give you an example.  One rare beautiful fall day I was getting my garden ready for winter.   This was in the front of my house and as I was moving a trellis from the wall, behind it was a spider protecting what looked like hundreds of tiny eggs  that she spun a protective web around.  However, there were two big earwigs  trying to get at the eggs.  One was trying to distract her while the other was going to get the eggs.   She got the one earwig that was trying to distract her trapped in the web.  Then just as she was turning around the other earwig went at the eggs.  I went and swept if off the wall so he couldn’t get them.   However, I am not sure if earwigs spray anything because it looked like he had a chance to do something to the eggs.  But, I am not sure, I am not an entomologist.  The other earwig started to move so I swept him away so the spider could deal with her eggs in peace.  One thing was amazing though, she was not afraid of me.  She just stayed for a few seconds then turned and went back to her eggs.

Now, I just found this absolutely fascinating.  I would not have even noticed this before as this all happened in an area of about 2 square inches on a brick wall 5 feet up.    This example may be extreme, yes, but it does show you how alive you can become once you do start on your spiritual journey.  I do have to say that I did not pick the time or place to start my journey.   It just picked me.

I do have to say one thing though,  it is not a religion.  It does not matter whether you are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or from any of the other major religious groups around the world you can still be spiritual and practice your religion.

Spirituality also means taking care of yourself.  Nurturing your mind, body and soul, living a healthy lifestyle,  meditating and incorporating any other forms of  natural ways to relieve stress.

Practicing Gratitude everyday does wonders to keep you upbeat and stress levels way down.  I wrote a three line poem to remind me to be grateful everyday.

Start everyday as if it is your first

Embrace everyday as if it is your last

End everyday with gratitude for the blessings of the day!

What does Spirituality mean to you?  I look forward to your comments!

Donna