What is spirituality?

Spirituality isn't just for the religious and holy anymore, and a few simple suggestions will help you on your way to a brilliantly abundant and prosperous spiritual life. Who ever said spirituality was for the religious? Well, don’t believe everything you hear.

Spirituality is for anyone and everyone who desires a faith that fills the heart and soul with love and joy and a belief in the higher, the sacred, the oneness of life. Many people find spirituality through religion, and many find spirituality outside of it.

It is highly likely that your spiritual path has been underfoot for your whole life, and that you have simply not yet set foot upon it. Many believe that we are all fundamentally spiritual beings, and that some of us seek to live in awareness of spirituality while others do not.

If you seek to live a spiritual life and are unaware as to how to embark on your spiritual path, try a few simple suggestions. They should help you begin your journey, if you have not done so already.

- Choose something greater than yourself in whom you can trust and believe, and from whom you can learn. Many would call this a higher power. Your higher power may be God, Allah, Buddha, Nature, the Universe, a river, a tree, love, or anything else that is positive and rich with goodness.

- Take your first step onto your path by introducing yourself to your higher power. Write a letter to your higher power, take a walk into the universe of your higher power by climbing a mountain, or do anything that is symbolic of this first step.

- Explore your new path. Read books on spirituality, attend workshops on spirituality, visit different churches and synagogues and spiritual meeting places, talk to friends about spirituality, and, most importantly, talk to yourself. What is it that you seek on a spiritual path?

- Be patient with yourself, and be patient with the process. Let your spiritual path unfold. Imagine a red carpet being unfolded before you, and you cannot step ahead of the carpet as it unfolds.

- Give yourself a spiritual gift every day. Read a prayer, try a meditation, buy yourself a spiritual book, call a spiritual friend, talk to your higher power, and let the path unfold.

- Most importantly, remember that a path implies an unfolding, a process, places to step and weave and wind and roam. There is no one way to find your spiritual path, and there is no one way to let it develop. Let it be whatever it is.

These are only a few simple suggestions. Most spiritual books and places and centers have suggestions of their own.

Once you have followed these suggestions in this article, you will most likely find stepping stones that offer more specific suggestions. Remember, this is a process.

One word of caution. Listen to your soul. If you are uncomfortable with something you find, release it. Look elsewhere. If you do not feel safe in a new setting, choose an alternate one.

This is your life. This is your spiritual path. Regardless of who might have told you along the way what to believe, you have the choice to believe whatever you believe.

Maybe you grew up Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. Or maybe you grew up with any religious beliefs at all. No matter what your background, the important piece is where you stand today.

Congratulations on seeking a spiritual path. Good luck walking down the path of your spirit.