Thought I’d share my journaling homework with you from last night’s class on self-awareness.

How do I guard my spirit?

I have to admit I have not done a good job of guarding my spirit much of my life, it was a foreign concept to me, so I was more prone to giving it away than to guarding it. I was quick to let go of my soul’s desire/direction in favour of getting approval and being accepted by the people in my life starting with my family then my peers. Then the pendulum swung the other direction, and I gave away my spirit by acting out in ways that were about rejecting others and myself ultimately.

As I reflect on what it means to me at this point in my life, I would have to say part of it is about paying attention to what I am telling myself about whatever idea I am moving toward. Then comes the ‘fasting’, the process of dismantling the illusions and accompanying fears.

I know only too well that I have not been stopped or thwarted in my endeavours by anyone outside myself. The ‘enemy’ has always been within in my projections based on unhealed traumas and the assumptions and beliefs that were developed around them.

It is powerful to guard my spirit but there has to be a sense of direction first otherwise there is no meaning or purpose other than survival-based falsehoods.

Guarding my spirit is about focusing on the Divine Idea that is being birthed in me and letting go of anything that is not in resonance with it. When I think of my vision to be a radiant centre of Divine Love and compassion, guarding my spirit is about always coming back to that intention/vision when I have been drawn into old patterns and reactions that do not serve it. It is about compassionately surrendering to the vision and letting it lead me. To that end, I have been letting go of activities that are based more on ‘making a living’ and moving back into the direction of soul work such as spiritual direction among other activities.

Guarding my spirit is something that requires constant vigilance and devotion, not in a harsh and regimented way but rather with gentle awareness and redirection.

Namaste

ps Pic from below Athabasca Falls