Thank you so much for your interest in The Insight, by Sheba. I hope you enjoyed this week’s blogs about “Living a Healthy Spiritual Life.”

Next week’s topic will be “Taking Advantage of Every Moment.”

Friday Review: Happy Reading!

1. Round Balls in Square Holes.

• Some may find it in a pew on Sunday, on a yoga retreat, on a walk through the woods one cool morning, or in volunteering for people in need. Discover what spirituality means to you and no one else.

2. The iPhone and Progressive Synergism.

• Spiritual well-being affects every aspect of our lives, but is too often and too easily neglected. It takes daily effort and care, but the benefits spiritual health yields are worth the effort. Set your phone down for a minute. Get to know your inner self, deepen your relationships with others, and appreciate the world in which we live.

3. Winning the Lottery?

• A healthy spirit is vital to living a healthy life. In order to maintain a healthy spirit we must actively pursue spiritual nourishment and encouragement. It is as much an inward process as it is outward. Our spirit benefits from helping others in genuine selflessness. Don’t wait on the spiritual lottery to bring you the grand prize.

4. Six Degrees of Caring

• Although a spiritual journey is personal, it is not entirely an individual quest. Spirituality requires you to reach within and be in tune with yourself in order to reach out to others.

The Insight: Spirituality has no set definition. It is entirely subjective and defined by your life experiences and needs. Although it’s not always easy or convenient to devote the time it takes to cultivate spiritual health, it is necessary and beneficial. It won’t magically come to you, or stay healthy. You must nurture and encourage spiritual growth in your life and in the lives of others to cultivate spiritual wellness. What are you waiting for?

When did you last consider your spiritual well-being?

Have a wonderful weekend!

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

A Positive Perspective for Life, Love, and Relationships

The Scenario: A friend of mine used to date this guy when she lived in Italy that is the brother of this woman who works for a friend of mine in New York. Voila! Six degrees of separation. If the theory is true, and we are only separated from every other person on the planet by a mere six degrees, how much more could we individually affect the whole of humanity simply by caring for the people with whom we have contact?

How do we care for another’s spiritual well-being?

According to Dr. Jean Watson’s Transpersonal Care Theory, the act of caring for another individual is a spiritual transaction and a moral ideal. Watson illustrates this practice with four fundamental “Carative Factors.”

1. Equanimity

• Encouraging spiritual, physical, and mental balance in others through compassion.

2. Supporting Individual’s Belief System

• Encouraging and preserving spiritual beliefs and experiences of caregivers as well as those of the receiver.

3. Spiritual Growth

• A caregiver must pursue his or her own path toward spiritual growth to foster greater openness and compassion toward others.

4. Presence

• A caregiver makes him or herself available to hear and support the care receiver’s expression of emotion.

The Insight: Although a spiritual journey is personal, it is not entirely an individual quest. Spirituality requires you to reach within and be in tune with your self in order to reach out to others.

Would you call yourself a caregiver?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

A Positive Perspective for Life, Love, and Relationships

The Scenario: The odds of winning the Mega Millions are one in 3,819,816 million according to Durango Bill. However, if that were your goal, you would work, save money and buy tickets every week of every month of every year until you won. You cannot achieve any goal without work. Spiritual well-being is no different. The chances of it simply materializing without effort are about the same as winning the lottery.

What kind of work is needed for spiritual well-being?

Thomas G. Plante, Ph. D, author of Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health, suggests several activities and steps to cultivate spiritual well-being:

1. Prayer or Meditation
2. Recognizing or Creating Purpose in Your Life
3. Community Building Through Fellowship and Service
4. Identifying and Practicing Your Personal Values and Beliefs
5. Following the Example of Your Spiritual Role Models
6. Actively Pursuing Justice
7. Welcoming Diversity and Challenge
8. Acknowledging the Sacred Life in all Things

Note that most of the steps suggested above involve selflessness, outreach or community. Spiritual well-being is beneficial not only to you as an individual, but also to those with whom you associate.

The Insight: A healthy spirit is vital to living a healthy life. In order to maintain a healthy spirit we must actively pursue spiritual nourishment and encouragement. It is as much an inward process as it is outward. Our spirits benefit from helping others in genuine selflessness. Don’t wait on the spiritual lottery to bring you the grand prize.

How much effort do you put into spiritual well-being?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

A Positive Perspective for Life, Love, and Relationships

The Scenario: The iPhone has made an almost inconceivable impact on our lives.  We started with talking, texting, and sending messages to share information. Now we are looking at each other through Facetime and uploading on the spot pictures of special moments to Facebook to feel more connected with our communities.

How important are these communities in reference to spiritual well-being?

According to University of Melbourne professor Dr. John Fisher, spiritual well-being is related to community. Fisher developed the Four Domains Model to identify the elements of our personal lives that are interrelated to spiritual well-being through the concept of progressive synergism. Progressive synergism suggests that self-awareness leads to and is enhanced by communal relationships.

Spiritual well-being is further developed by embracing each of the following domains:

1. Personal

• Self awareness

2. Communal

• Close personal relationships

3. Environmental

• Appreciation and respect for nature and the environment

4. Transcendental

• Faith in a higher power
  

The Insight: Spiritual well-being affects every aspect of our lives, but is too often and too easily neglected. It takes daily effort and care, but the benefits spiritual health yields are worth the effort. Set your phone down for a minute. Get to know your inner self, deepen your relationships with others, and appreciate the world in which we live.

Are you sharing with your community?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

A Positive Perspective for Life, Love, and Relationships

The Scenario: Have you ever watched a child try repeatedly to jam a round ball into a smaller square hole? It doesn’t work. It’s just like discovering your spirituality. When it doesn’t work for you, don’t force it. You will know when you’ve uncovered the values and meanings in life that you choose to live by; because they fit with the idea of whom you want to be.

What is spirituality?

Dr. Larry Culliford, author of The Psychology of Spirituality, refers to it as something that is indefinite and indescribable. Spirituality cannot be defined by a single concept, but is rather a compilation of ideas each pertaining to selflessness. In our efforts to experience more connectedness to self, humanity, nature or the divine, spirituality is a journey to what grounds us as individuals.

The Insight: Some may find it in a pew on Sunday, on a yoga retreat, on a walk through the woods one cool morning, or in volunteering for people in need. Discover what spirituality means to you and no one else.

How do you nurture spiritual well-being?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

A Positive Perspective for Life, Love, and Relationships