 Seldom do we celebrate life’s wonders with the attitude of gratitude. Parents take their children for granted instead of marveling at their uniqueness and development. Students become desensitized to the beauty surrounding them on campus. Professors forget to appreciate the cloistered environs in which they are honored by being allowed to devote their careers to labors of love. And creation itself often receive short shrift in a hurried society concerned with fast food and quick weight-loss diets. Quicker, faster, more, sooner, easier: so little time to nourish the soul, to develop optimal spiritual health. Spiritual health has been defined in a number of ways. Some of these recognize the existence of a supreme being, whereas others relate spirituality to one’s relationships with others and one’s place in this world. Another definition is the ability to discover and express your purpose in life; to learn how to experience love, joy, peace, and fulfillment’ and to help yourself and others to achieve full potential. Spiritual health may include answers to such questions as “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” questions that confront you with the very fact of your existence and the meaning of your life. Answers to these questions may comfort you and alleviate stress with assurance that your life is headed in the direction you desire. On the other hand, your answers may disturb you. Should that occur, use that dissonance to make changes in your life to be more spiritual – take more walks in the park, so to speak. Celebrate loved ones and natural wonders, find activities in which to make a contribution to your world and the people who inhabit it, leave something of meaning behind, experience who you are and let others experience that as well. All of these changes will make you less distressed, more satisfied with your life, and more effective in your interactions with both your environment and the people about whom you care. |
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