Spiritual Journey

"Open up to the possibility that your ordinary life is an extraordinary adventure, and that your joys and sorrows have meaning. Spiritual practice becomes your rudder, offering direction and insight and discretion as you venture into the unknown." --E Lesser

We're all on a spiritual journey, I think. Whether or not we even admit or realize it.

I told a friend that this blog is not about me, it's about yoga. However, after reflecting on my defensive response, that's not true. It's about both. My journey. My spiritual journey. I've been actively seeking God for most of my life, (a Christian since age 9), and I am just now more fully realizing that the Divine and ordinary in life is complexly intertwined, and life is far richer if I can let go of trying to orchestrate everything to perfection. (What took me so long?!)

Learning when to go with the river of life and when to stand up and walk back upstream a bit. Or simply stand still and listen to the quiet of my heart. These shifts in the current have tested my ability to accept circumstances I've been given (and chosen) as a chance to be more genuine in love and life.

My friend, whom I admire and respect dearly, suggested that I "quit quoting every yogi that ever lived and just seek God". (I'm not here to defend my journey. I'm writing about it because it helps me process it and in my own way, has opened my path wider to God.) I think there's a longing (for peace, God, spirituality or to find your True self) in all of us that yearns to be fulfilled.

We all fill it with something: food, shopping, yoga/exercise, friends/family, drugs or alcohol, email, TV, or internet, even service or philanthrophy... whatever we do to avoid the silent pull of our longings. I think if we truly listened carefully, we would sense something far greater, something more awesome than we ever imagined. It's when I ignore that small still voice, put on my mask (of trying to hide my weaknesses that are probably clear to everyone anyway), and crowd my life with stuff and things to do that I miss out on a possible journey that God is clearly a part of.

My friend, I hear you, and I'm hearing God, too.