By Dr. Sandy Islands for Conch Color
It’s hard to believe that we’ve arrived at Zeal in our alphabetical journey of just looking at ourselves. Many have asked, “Where will you go from here?” I say, let’s continue to move forward with zeal and practice the art of looking at ourselves. Zeal is being eagerly interested as we pursue something we keenly enjoy. Once we’ve awakened from our old thinking patterns of looking outside ourselves for why we’re unhappy or why the world doesn’t operate as we want it to, we’re free to zealously pursue the art of looking within. Spiritual zeal is the law of divine enthusiasm. It allows us to speak fearlessly, truthfully and courageously. We create a level of confidence that others begin to notice and honor. This courage allows us to move away from the crowd, from needing to fit in, and we become powerfully creative in our work, our relationships and our passions. We are guided from our truth within to take the next right action in the service of man/womankind.
Real success comes through service. It’s important to look into our hearts and see whether our zeal springs from a spiritual or personal consciousness. If our intent is to serve, then zeal broadens our vision and our whole being becomes alert with sweetness and strength. If we are only driven by personal gain to further our interests at the expense of others, our selfishness will eventually eat us up and leave our souls starved and strained. We become drunk on our own beliefs and motives. Someone once said that “Religion is man-made rituals to honor God and Spirituality is God inspired behavior to honor man.” When we live and work in the consciousness of spiritual zeal, we are inspired by God to serve all of God’s children.
When we raise our consciousness above gossip and judging others, we practice acceptance and compassion. We stir up the divine courage within to stand for truth and we’ll find the inspiration to birth new ideas into our troubled world. Let’s think of someone we know who might be described as “odd,” yet there’s something about them that brings out the best in us when we’re around them. They just show up and are fully present to whatever is happening. Now, let’s think of someone who has the opposite effect. No matter what’s said, they’ll always turn the conversation back to themselves. They’re usually whining and complaining about something and take the victim or martyr stance in the stories they tell. They’re not very good listeners and they always need something from us. We’re relieved when they leave and feel drained of our vital energy. Let’s ask ourselves who are we more like? How do we want to be?
This column will continue with a more personal flair. I invite your input and please know that I’m the only one who reads the email at the address below. Tell me your experiences of when you’ve been able to look at yourself and how that felt. Tell me how in hindsight you’ve recognized where you could have acted or responded from a higher consciousness and felt better about yourself. We can learn from each other’s stories. When we just look at ourselves, we’ll always lighten up. Please write to Dr. Sandy Islands at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com.