Challenges faced in Spiritual Development
Spiritual development can appear in so many different forms. It is so easy to offer advice to others. Being a little further along the path seems to give us permission to give assistance to those who come to us for help. My goodness me, for many years I not only handed out advice, but I also spent time teaching strategies that would assist others on their journey to knowing God. But, over the past couple of months, I have been truly struggling with my own personal journey. Confusion and frustration have truly reigned supreme. That is until during my walk this morning when I once again attempted to make sense of what I was doing, and the next step needed in moving me closer to the realisation of what lies within.
In my early life, I had always been taught that to be a success at everything in life, you simply had to find someone who had already achieved the outcome I was looking for and simply mirror image exactly what they had done so that I could achieve the same results. This went totally against what I taught which was to always follow your heart and your own individual path that was right and perfect for you. In a nutshell my ‘aha’ moment this morning was in realising that I had not been following my own advice or teachings! As with these two beautiful swans, it was time to turn, pause, breathe, and allow God to reveal the perfect path.
We are all individual God being, with the emphasis in this instance, focused on the word individual. Just as we have individual and unique fingerprints, so too do we have individual and unique personalities. God manifesting as you or as me, but always in a unique, beautiful and perfect way.
Therefore, to try to mirror another’s path is never going to end in a happy and harmonious life. We can follow certain principles and truths, but we must always move in our own unique direction and unique manner of doing things. God is forever fulfilling Itself through an infinite number of ways. We just happened to be one of the instruments through which God works. The exciting news is that we don’t even have to figure this unique path for ourselves, but simply stop, take a breath, be still, and watch the path open out before us.