“Finding” the time for your spiritual practice
One of the challenges in shifting consciousness from a human being with a spirit to a spirit with a human body is “finding” the time to devote to spiritual practices that support and enhance the new, expanded view of life. Immersed in and inundated by a culture that sees us – and wants us to see ourselves – as predominantly a physical human, we have endless opportunities to engage ourselves in managing our daily life. From the moment we are conceived, we take on a role as the son or daughter of our parents, and only add more and more roles as we grow – sibling, student, worker, partner, spouse, parent, homeowner, car owner, pet owner, consumer, sports fan, etcetera and etcetera. In the last 15 years, we have added social media to the mix, adding more demands to our social roles as well as unlimited access to the endless stream. It is no wonder that our spirit, or consciousness, often feels almost “eaten alive” by the demands on our time from the outside world. It is easy to slip into daily functioning that is almost all outward focused and almost no inward focused. Time becomes a precious commodity, leaving us with the expression of needing to “find” something that we all have in an equal amount: 1440 minutes every 24 hours.
Managing time instead of finding time
The difficulty in investing time into our individual spiritual practice is that no one else hears the call of Spirit inside of us. No one but me can say “Meditate first” or “Go into the woods today.” These whispers of Spirit inside of us, which we all have when we listen closely, are easily drowned out by the cacophony of voices and responsibilities outside of us requesting (or demanding) our time. Our challenge is to be a steward of our time. To grow spiritually, we must become entrepreneurs of our own life.
One of my best tools for entrepreneuring my life is to use a grid developed from the work of Charles E. Hummel, who wrote a pamphlet entitled “The Tyranny of the Urgent.” Here is the grid:
I list the things I have to do in these four boxes, either A, B, C, or D and then prioritize them accordingly, doing items in A first, items in B second, items in C third, and items in D last. Some things move up in the categories, and therefore move up on my “to do” list. My spirituality practice is always placed in category A or B, consistent with my value that I am a spiritual being having a human experience. Things like scrolling through social media posts are placed in category D, only turned to after more important things have been accomplished. Obviously I am not perfect at this, but it certainly helps me get important things done. When I accomplish those important things, I feel better about having control over my life, increasing my ability to enjoy the less important things. Becoming a spiritual being having a human experience.
Creating breakthroughs
In closing, here are some statements that I know to be true for me. Test them out in your heart to see if they ring true to you:
- No one who seeks power over me will support me accessing my power.
- Looking to find my value outside myself gives away my power.
- No one can access or advocate for my innate passion and purpose better than me.
- It is important for me to “find my tribe,” the people who will support my path simply because it is my unique expression from my Creator.
I would love to hear from you about this blog entry or what other challenges and breakthroughs you have experienced in deepening your spiritual practice. Email me at challenges@thomascapshew.com My next installment will be focused on “money” as a challenge to developing your spiritual practice. May your path be filled with health, joy, clarity and Love!
