Spiritual Perfectionism
by Nanci Bradley
As someone who loves self growth and the pursuit of spiritual wisdom, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking the only ‘good’ experiences in life are the spiritual ones. That if I am not having great meditations every day, going to regular sound baths, and reading books about self growth, I am ‘wasting time’ in this life.
If my meditation does not leave me feeling floaty, then was it worth meditating at all?
If the book I am reading does not result in deep realisations, then was it a waste of my time?
If I am not feeling like my highest vibrational version of myself, then am I doing life wrong?
This is another version of perfectionism. This belief system that we need to always be highly vibrational and loving and the best possible versions of ourselves. And if we aren’t doing that, then we have failed in some way.
And this belief system, this constant chase to be better without stopping to appreciate and practice self love and forgiveness, can be just as unhealthy as those who have not begun their self healing journey at all.
The Sprint to the Finish
The race to become a better, more aligned version of yourself, the version that you have always wanted to be, is not a sprint. It is a climb up an infinitely tall mountain, because that version of you is constantly shifting and changing. Right now, your goal might be to feel happy and secure at your place of work, but once you achieve that you may realise that you also want to have the same within your personal life. And once you achieve both of those, you may realise that what you thought you wanted to do for work has changed.
The journey is never ending.
And if you are constantly sprinting forward, trying desperately to get to the top, you will very quickly burn out and begin feeling discouraged that you haven’t ‘reached the top’ of the mountain.
Another Option
So, instead of constantly sprinting and chasing that more aligned version of yourself, begin treating it like a long hike. Move forward until you reach one of your goals, and then appreciate the view. Don’t worry if you feel like you are moving backwards, you are just getting acclimated to the oxygen level up here on the mountain of life. You will begin to move forward again, if you desire to, I promise.
Enjoy the many facets of the human experience, even if they are of a lower vibration then you would prefer. There may be a reason for this experience, or it may just be a reminder to enjoy your time here on Earth as best as you can.
My Story
Both myself and my mother, another Kinesiologist named Blazenka, recently went on a family holiday to Europe. This holiday was not especially spiritual, it was not a retreat to gain a deeper knowledge of yourself, it wasn’t a nurturing holiday by the beach restoring our energy battery, it wasn’t even a journey of shifting inner child woundings by confronting old family members (although we did see parts of our extended family).
We noticed after a few weeks that we weren’t feeling particularly highly vibrational. In some ways, we weren’t even feeling like ourselves as a result of this.
But rather than fall into despair that we had ‘wasted time’ in our spiritual journey, by using the time to instead have a more ‘lower vibrational’ holiday. We decided to instead embrace the experience we had been given. Seeing the sights we wanted to see, enjoying time with our family, and simply living in each moment.
This enabled us to fully enjoy our holiday while we were there. And then when we returned, it was easy to switch back into a more spiritual state of mind.
Conclusion
We are always taught to chase our dreams relentlessly until we finally achieve them. But in our self development and spiritual growth goals, this can be unrealistic and unhealthy. Instead, strive to find a balance between moving forward and forgiving yourself when you need to stand in place for the moment.
Trust that you will begin moving forward again soon.
Begin your journey today!
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