Your spiritual seeking won’t change your life until you quit drinking.
--
My family went to church multiple times every week. Sunday morning. Sunday evening. And Wednesdays, too, for good measure.
I went to the church’s elementary school where I got gold stars (literally!) for memorizing Bible verses and the books of the Bible in order.
The brand of Christianity my parents participated in forbade smoking and drinking, playing cards, seeing movies and dancing.
I’m not sure if it’s ironic or predictable that I abused alcohol.
As a grownup, I explored any spiritual practice that involved chanting in Sanskrit. Zen Buddhism. Siddha Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga.
I got up and meditated at 5am. I went to silent retreats. I practiced yoga for 90 minutes every day.
I’d feel great, spacious and at one with life in my meditations.
And outside of those practices, my life was messy.
My ex-husband and I quarreled about our kids and everything else. My career had stalled. And the quality of the men I dated was on a steep decline. A very, very steep decline.
When I stopped drinking, my spiritual principles grounded into solid ground and began to infiltrate and change my life.
My first experience of applying spiritual principles was such a staggering, mind-blowing success that it convinced me without a doubt that acting on the basis of spiritual principles makes for a wondrous life.
Today, I pick one spiritual principle a week and focus on applying it in all the experiences of each day.
First, I practice the posture of that principle.
What is the posture of humility? And if I can’t access that insight, I ask myself what is the posture of its opposite. We all know the posture of the braggart. Chest puffed out. Grandiose gestures. Loud voice. But is the posture of humility a sunken chest? A withdrawn aspect? A whispering voice?
That’s where spirituality in action gets interesting.
Then, I ask what my resistance is to being, for instance, humble.
My inner voice pipes up, “I can’t be a leader if I’m a wimp.”
Whoa!
Two interesting ideas there. #1. I am a leader. And #2. Does humility make me a wimp?
Again, how interesting.
And last, I remind myself throughout the day to come from a place of humility.
Before I talk to my husband. My co-worker. My friend.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll write about what I learned about humility. Where I can do better. And what I did well.
Please follow me here on Medium. And enter your email below for a PDF of “How to Stay Sober in Seven Sticky Situations.”
