Dear Ones,
How many items are on your to-do list at this time? Do you have the items prioritized? And what do you consider the most important item on the list – something for your work, your family, your finances? Or your spiritual development?
Let us suggest that you consider your spiritual development as foundational to all your other values and priorities. When you think about your work, do you think about it as something separate from who you are as a spiritual person? It is not separate. You are first and foremost a spiritual being having a physical lifetime on Planet Earth and your work FOLLOWS from this – it is not the other way around. Furthermore, your spiritual work IS your work, so you really cannot separate the two.
Many of you reading this will think that we are talking about religion here but that is not so. It matters not which religion, if any, that you choose to practice. Your being a spiritual person is more about the eternal, timeless you than about what you do [religion]. Think of the essence of yourself as being the spiritual you. You are timeless, eternal. You are greater than any of the circumstances in your life at the present time. You are greater than the people who surround you, who like you, love you, don’t like you, help you, hurt you, ignore you. You are also greater than the job that you perform in the world. Your work in the world is to further your personal growth, to expand the consciousness of the spiritual being that you are in your essence.
All of your other priorities flow from this work of personal growth. The more you work on yourself, the more you are able to help others to do so. A person who does not do this personal work cannot offer support to others who are doing so. Have you ever met someone who is so self-absorbed that they cannot hear you and what you are saying to them because they are focused only on how they feel, what they want or what they think/believe? These people are not living a Conscious Life. They are not on a path of personal spiritual growth, and they cannot help you on your path. If you are connected to someone like this ask yourself if this person is assisting you in growing or if your association is hindering you in your own growth. Your growth in consciousness needs to be your top priority.
Can you see whatever your work in the world might be at this time as an expression of your own personal spiritual growth? It does not matter if you are working in an office with a lot of other people or working alone at home. Perhaps your job is one that you hope one day to leave but, for some reason, you are still in that job. Consider that you might be there because the circumstances or the people are offering you a laboratory, a classroom, in which you can learn lessons vital to your personal growth. You might also be the vehicle through which others are learning their own lessons.
If you love your work, are you helping others because of your own spiritual growth? Are others helping you to progress? If your work is fulfilling, is it because it causes you to feel expanded, to feel your own growth through that work? And if it is not fulfilling, what aspect is missing? Could it be that you feel stagnant, that you cannot grow in this situation?
When you look at your family, are they supportive of your personal growth, the expansion of your consciousness or do you feel restricted by them? Are you eager to share what you are learning through the lessons in your life or do you fear being rebuffed and thus stay closed-mouth or shut down?
Ask yourself how you feel about focusing your attention on your own spiritual growth. Are you comfortable making this your number one priority? Can you see how your work, your family, even your finances, are the result of your work on yourself and are not to be separated into compartments that do not connect with each other?
Now get your priorities arranged so that you can do that number one item on the list. Focus on your personal growth first and you will be able to prioritize all the other items on the list easily. Expand your own awareness and you will bring more resources to solving the problems inherent in all the other items on your to-do list.
Remember that you came into this lifetime to learn lessons. When you focus on learning your own lessons, you increase the resources you have to share with others who are also learning lessons. Fulfill your goals to expand yourself and all your other goals will be accomplished. Make sure you do not put your own personal growth work at the bottom of the priority list – just get it done!
And so it is.
________________________
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June 16, 2010 at 10:35 pm
so many life lessons to learn!
as I stop resisting the lessons it becomes fun
June 15, 2010 at 11:40 am
This is a very powerful message Rosemary. This is a wonderful reminder of how important it is to take care of ourselves first in order to be able to help others.
June 15, 2010 at 11:38 am
Thanks for sharing. I love the idea of prioritizing tasks based on spirituality and how they will enhance our lives.
Great info.
Write on!~
Lisa
June 15, 2010 at 11:36 am
Beautiful! XO, Katherine.
June 15, 2010 at 11:13 am
Rosemary – Wonderful post. Great reminder on how important and healthy internal self-focus, self-awareness and self-permission is in achieving our goals.
Phil
June 14, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Rosemary,
Thank you for clearly speaking about a topic many people kind of think is on the woo woo side of middle. You are clearly saying important lessons here and many people would be better off reading your post and learning from you. Mitch
June 14, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Thanks for understanding this, Mitch!
June 13, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Rosemary,
It’s nice to hang around entrepreneurs like our Tribe, because they are conscious! I think being an entrepreneur brings it out in us because we go on the entrepreneurial path to respond to our calling. Thanks for the encouragement!
Linda
June 14, 2010 at 10:12 pm
You’re right, Linda, that our Tribe contains ‘conscious entrepreneurs’! That makes us supportive of each other because we understand how to operate in the world when we respond to our calling.
June 12, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Thanks for a thought provoking read. I so agree that we should aim to “Create value in ALL things” this is my main business philosophy – so much so even m ezine is titled “Value Ad” thanks for the great post.
Heidi Alexandra
June 14, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Heidi Alexandra,
I love the title ‘Value Ad’ for your ezine! So important to see our values in our work!
June 11, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Rosemary,
Spirit is all, in all and is the foundation of all. I learned years ago that what I put into my own spiritual growth on a daily basis (sometimes minute to minute) is the greatest gift I can give to myself and to my family. Thanks for the beautiful reminder.
Anita
xoxoxo
June 14, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Your family et al are benefited by your focus on your spiritual growth! You give so much of yourself, Anita, because you are clear about your own calling!
Blessings to you!
June 11, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Thanks for the comments, All!
Somehow we have to learn how to differentiate between ‘selfish’ and ‘self-aware’ – they are not the same!
Blessings, Rosemary
June 11, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Very well written Rosemary! My philosophy of life is “Create value in ALL things”
Lynn
June 11, 2010 at 11:37 am
Yes! Thank you. You cannot separate the spiritual you from your work…as it’s meant to help you do your greater good. Well said!!! – Carmen
June 10, 2010 at 8:10 pm
We are here to learn lessons, as you say. I think there is a fine line between driving one’s self a little nuts over “what is the lesson here” and being in a grounded and open space, letting the lessons come. Thanks for speaking of this, so vital!
Sue Painter
June 10, 2010 at 9:01 am
Rosemary – this is just great.
Focus on yourself first is a lesson we need to hear, often, in many different ways. Without the foundation, nothing else is really possible.