Category: Spiritual

This includes inspirational stories, reflections, gratitude, lessons, etc.

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Listen With Intent To Help

Navigating support for friends and family can be challenging, especially when trying to help them see things from a different perspective. From a spiritual viewpoint, the intention behind your actions is key. Here are some thoughts to consider:

  • Timing and Approach: Sometimes, it’s not just what you say but how and when you say it. Offering a different perspective immediately might come off as contrary or dismissive of their feelings. Waiting until the person feels heard and understood before introducing a new viewpoint might be more effective.
  • Active Listening: It’s often more helpful initially to just listen empathetically. People tend to be more open to hearing different perspectives after they feel their own views and emotions have been acknowledged.
  • Ask Permission: Before offering a different perspective, you might ask if they are open to hearing another viewpoint. This can help set the stage for a more receptive conversation and shows respect for their current emotional state.
  • Reflective Questioning: Instead of stating the other side directly, you could use questions that lead the person to consider alternative viewpoints on their own. Questions like “How do you think the other person felt?” or “What do you think their intentions might have been?” can prompt reflection without seeming confrontational.
  • Be Present: Sometimes, the best support you can offer is simply being there. Presence can be more powerful than words, providing comfort and stability.
  • Authenticity with Compassion: Continue to be authentic, but blend your authenticity with compassion and sensitivity to the situation and the emotional state of the person you’re trying to help.

Balancing these elements can enhance how you support your loved ones, making it more likely that your help will be effective and appreciated.

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On Being Opinionated and/or Judgemental…

In a spiritual sense, being opinionated and being judgmental reflect two distinct approaches to engaging with the world and others, each carrying different energies and outcomes. While both can lead to self-awareness and freedom if observed mindfully, their underlying motives and manifestations differ.

Being Opinionated

  • Definition: Holding a strong belief or perspective based on personal values, experiences, or understanding.
  • Energy: Rooted in self-expression, it can be neutral or positive if shared without attachment.
  • Pathway to Freedom: It allows you to know your authentic self, your values, and your boundaries. Observing your opinions helps you recognize what resonates with your truth and what doesn’t.
  • Potential Trap: When overly attached to opinions, it can lead to rigidity and resistance to others’ truths.

How to Observe Being Opinionated:

  1. Notice the Energy: Is your opinion shared to express truth or to prove a point? Truth flows; proving a point constrains.
  2. Check for Resistance: Do you feel tension when others disagree, or are you open to other perspectives?
  3. Question the Origin: Ask, “Why do I hold this opinion? Is it serving growth or ego?”
  4. Practice Non-Attachment: Express your view but remain open to change if deeper truths emerge.

Being Judgmental

  • Definition: Forming a conclusion about someone or something, often with a sense of superiority or moral positioning.
  • Energy: Rooted in separation; it often arises from fear, insecurity, or unhealed wounds.
  • Pathway to Freedom: Judgments reflect what remains unhealed or unintegrated within us. Observing judgments helps us recognize and dissolve inner blocks to compassion.
  • Potential Trap: Judging reinforces duality and distances us from oneness.

How to Observe Being Judgmental:

  1. Recognize the Feeling: Judgments are often accompanied by irritation, frustration, or a sense of self-righteousness.
  2. Identify the Mirror: Ask, “What does this judgment say about me? What in me feels threatened or incomplete?”
  3. Shift to Compassion: Replace judgment with curiosity. For example, instead of “Why are they like this?” ask, “What might they be experiencing?”
  4. Embrace Unity: Practice seeing others as reflections of yourself, recognizing shared humanity and divine essence.

Key Differences

AspectBeing OpinionatedBeing Judgmental
FocusExpression of personal truthEvaluation of others or situations
EnergyCan be constructive or neutralOften divisive and negative
Spiritual LessonKnowing your authentic selfHealing inner wounds and seeing oneness
Growth OpportunityPractice humility and opennessCultivate compassion and acceptance

Practical Observations for Both:

  1. Pause and Reflect: When reacting strongly, pause and ask yourself, “Is this an opinion or a judgment? Where is it coming from?”
  2. Journal Daily: Write down moments you felt opinionated or judgmental. Reflect on their impact on your peace.
  3. Meditate on Awareness: Use mindfulness to observe the space between stimulus and reaction. This gap reveals the origin of your response.
  4. Seek Higher Perspectives: Whenever possible, ask, “What would love, unity, or higher wisdom see in this situation?”

Both pathways invite us to transcend ego-based reactions and align with higher states of awareness. Observing these reactions without judgment creates space for profound spiritual growth.

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