|
When was the last time you took a moment to
congratulate yourself for navigating life in the 21st
Century?
I read a book a while back comparing life today with
life in the Middle Ages. The authors noted that we
receive as much sensory stimulation in a single day, as
a person back then might have experienced in a whole
year. So take a moment to pat yourself on the shoulder,
and tell your body that it is doing a very good job
handling it all!
Our world has sped up exponentially, and yes, we are
incredibly adaptable as human beings. But we need anchor
points—we need places of calm in the storm. In short,
we need space just to be.
Rituals offer that space. They give us room to simply
be without having to produce or accomplish anything. And
while that time may seem "wasted" because it
does not fulfill an item on your "to do" list
for the day, it is actually more valuable than all of
those "to do" items put together.
As an intuitive, I find that I need meditation time,
not only for my intuition to be at its best, but also
for my life to go the way I want. When I deny myself
that time, I invariably feel rushed and the life I
create is less rich, less enjoyable. . . and yes, even
less productive. When I take that hour each morning for
myself to pause and just be, I find a wellspring of
creative ideas and solutions inside myself.
Rituals help us connect with ourselves and with each
other. My dog and I have a morning ritual as well. After
breakfast, we go outside and he gets a thorough
brushing. He loves "brush time" and is
heartily disappointed if I forget. Brush time creates
space for us to communicate and connect with each other,
space to just be without any kind of agenda.
A ritual can be as simple as taking a deep breath and
saying grace before your meal, or as elaborate as
morning yoga or afternoon high tea. Take a moment and
think about your personal rituals—the ones that help
you feel more like yourself. How often do you give them
to yourself? You may see your rituals as a luxury—the
first calendar items to drop off the schedule in a busy
day—but I would encourage you to think otherwise about
them.
Rituals are as necessary to a happy life as
breathing. Without them, we become robots on a schedule.
With them, we have space to be and experience ourselves.
We experience more fully the joy, wonder and physical
presence of being a spirit in a human body—a human
being.
Copyright © 2001 Jennifer Baltz. All Rights
Reserved.
Rev. Jennifer Baltz is a
holistic minister, intuition teacher and author. She can
be reached for an intuitive reading or intuition
training at 800-600-3404, or via the web at Jennifer@creativespirit.com
Visit
Jennifer at:
BACK
TO "FEATURES" PAGE
|
