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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Leading A Spiritual Life: Pondering Death: The Gateway To Your Life Purpose

Living spiritually means believing in and connecting with something that is greater than one's self. For some, this tends me some divine entity such as God, Buddha, Jehovah, or any other higher power. By living spiritually you follow a path through self discovery that can lead you in many directions. You tend to base most big decisions on a moral code derived from some form of divine instructions.

Leading a spiritual life is a journey, a path that will help you learn and grow in wisdom every day. This is not an ending place, not a destination, but a practice that you will forever follow through all of your years.

This lifestyle and belief can also lead you to a life of better understanding of yourself and others. You will learn to forgive and be conscientious of other people and the world around us. In order to do this, and have a deep understanding of yourself and others, you must first have a guide. This is your "higher power".

Whatever a person's spiritual belief is, they are more likely to have a better sense of community, health and guidance, as well as a greater sense of the world as it is. These people are more likely to figure out what their purpose is earlier on in life than one who does not lead a spiritual life at all.

It doesn't matter what your "higher power" is, or if you have one specific one, the general idea is that there are certain morals that you can gain by leading a life of faith and genuine openness to a greater world.

Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 I was invited to work in partnership with the Russian Ministry of Education in delivering a character education curriculum to high schools. The curriculum was titled: "My Journey in Life"

I journeyed to ten major cities in the Russian Far East, lecturing to thousands of high school teachers, principals, curriculum writers and administrators.

The curriculum that I introduced, contained 96 chapters. Of all these chapters, the one that stood out the most in terms of stimulating interest was the one that addressed the issue of life after death.

One can only guess as to why life after death was the most appealing chapter for students. However, unquestionably it became apparent to me that enormous numbers of people including students themselves were having what is often referred to as "paranormal" experiences. Other terms used include "spiritual" and "out of body" experiences. It was only natural then for students to want to get answers to their questions.

Since then, I have traveled extensively and the same observation is evident, particularly in the developing world such as South Pacific island nations. Also one only has to look at the increasing number of movies and TV programs that contain para normal and supernatural themes to know that there is a growing numbers of people that are thirsty for spiritual knowledge or curious at least.

Talking about death and dying and the question of life after death may not engender positive reactions at the family dinner table. However, from my experience as a parent, teacher and life coach, discussion of these issues can be very educational and revealing.

Why is that you may ask? Simply because these topics help to teach us how to live NOW and open the gate to pondering our values and life purpose.

In other words, by contemplating these topics it helps people like you and I to truly appreciate life itself, to realize that our time on this Earth is limited, to answer the question of "who am I?" and to truly connect with our life purpose

Now what could be the benefits of wrapping our minds around such profound issues?

By even attempting to answer the aforementioned questions, it requires that the individual digs deep to the core of their being. By doing so, answers can emerge that provide an impetus to seek a path where one can come to love what they do every single day of their lives. The implication is being able to live a life that is significant causing the individual to leave a legacy that they can be proud of. When one's life purpose is clear, doors open.

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