My Favorite Question

I love it when people ask me: “What can I do to live a spiritual life?” I love it because it is so easy to answer. I’ve heard other teachers, self-help leaders, New Age spiritualists and gurus answer this question, too. Depending on their philosophy, their answers offer daily visioning practices, deep meditation, careful diet and yoga practice and prayer. All of those are lovely practices, and I appreciate the peace we can access through each of them, but it seems to me that the answer to the question “What can I do to live a spiritual life?” is “nothing.” You can do nothing to live a spiritual life because you are already living a spiritual life. You have always been living a spiritual life because you are a spiritual being. We might do better to ask “what can I do to live a human life and remain fully conscious of my spirituality?” because that is what we are here to do. We are here to live the incalculable miracle of this physical experience. We are here to manifest the divine truth of our essential loving nature in this physical world. What can you do to live a human life? You can shift your attention away from that spiritual story which suggests that you are on a journey to enlightenment. You can ask yourself what you care most about in this moment and act in alignment with that. You can wake up to the truth that you are a being of love living a human life, a life in a body on a planet full of physical experiences and requirements.
I do not know what any of that will look like for you, specifically. That is part of the mystery of this life. We each have myriad ways to bring love into the world. That is why we have an individual presence here. That is what we are here to learn and experience: the infinite variety and diversity of expression which love can manifest. What better way to bring your joy alive than to live consciously in this physical world? You do this by taking responsibility for the things YOU care about, driven by your own durable beliefs. You do this by shedding your old stories defined by fear and exclusivity. You do this by aligning your actions and goals with your own Awareness and the things your Truest Self really cares about, then work to see them realized in your life.
Though I do not know what specific miracles you will manifest for yourself, I do know that when you return your attention to your own Awareness, your life will be transformed. Your time will be filled with bringing your attention back to your True Self, creating space between that Awareness and the view screen in front of you. It will become a daily practice of identifying your true values and desires and bringing them into the world. You will find in that single move that there is so much to do day-to-day that you will have little time for unhappiness. Depression goes away. Fear becomes curiosity as you notice the stories getting triggered on your screen. Your Inner Critic loses its teeth. As you practice this ultimate form of self-love, you will feel happier; your need to blame others and your fear of getting in trouble will vanish. You will fill your days with the joy of bringing all of your Truest Self into the world and at the end of the day and at the end of your life, you will look back knowing that you gave your life ALL of your attention and did not spend your days lost in the story of it. Everything you need to live the life of your dreams is already within you! You are already here!
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Dr. Laurel Ross

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