#3. You feel reality with more intensity.
Life is like a day at the beach; you can stay safe on the shore or grab your surfboard, yell “Cowabunga!” like a teenage mutant ninja turtle, and head out to sea to surf some waves.
Both life experiences are valid.
But if you choose the waves, you will experience a lot of turbulence.
That’s what happens when we start our spiritual path: it’s more fun than just sitting on the shore, but you’re going to swallow a lot of water 🙂
These negative experiences are what I experienced when I started surfing the wave of spirituality.
Let’s dive in.
1. You lose friends
Some people are keys to your locks.
Some people are air for your lungs.
Some people are light for your steps.
And others are just obstacles.
Don’t forget that.
When you begin to grow spiritually, many people distance themselves from you and see you as a freak because you are no longer in cahoots with worldly attitudes.
- You don’t cheat.
- You don’t criticize for the sake of criticizing.
- You don’t envy me.
- You don’t let them suck your energy and steal your self-esteem.
- And you don’t get into arguments that get you nowhere.
And who wants to have a friend with whom you don’t argue, criticize others, cheat on your partner using him or her as an alibi, or complain about how well x or g person is doing?
People who are seeking spiritual growth, the rest are NOT.
The rest of the people want to have friends with whom they can do those things you try to avoid.
2. You face a lot of uncomfort
One of the prices you pay as you grow spiritually is the feeling of discomfort.
The feeling of discomfort grows as your spirituality grows. It is like when a child grows, and clothes become too small.
In this case, the clothes would be everything around you that used to be comfortable but is not now.
This includes your work, group of friends, how you use your free time, partners, etc.
True story: 3 years ago, I was offered a dream job,
- My office is on the top floor of the tallest building in my city.
- Personal secretary.
- Executive salary.
- Parking space.
- And freedom of schedule.
What was the problem? I had to manage debt and private equity.
I was in real estate for a long time and was very good at it. But this went a step further; my work was legal but ethically conflictive. So I quit after a week. And I kept writing for a living, even though I earned infinitely less.
It’s normal to feel weird doing things you used to like. I used to like to party and drink. So now I prefer to walk in the countryside.
I used to be very superficial, but now I don’t look at physique or status, and I give much more importance to people’s character, intelligence, and values.
Now I feel comfortable in a few places and in the company of a few people, but that feeling of comfort is so pleasant and intense that I don’t care if I feel uncomfortable in other places.
3. You feel reality with more intensity.
When you start growing spiritually, you begin seeing things as they are.
The blindfold fell from my eyes when I stopped numbing my perception with entertainment, sugar, carbohydrates, p*rn, alcohol, cigarettes, and all that jazz.
Once you begin to detoxify from everything that kept you asleep, you are much more sensitive to others’ injustices and feelings.
And you have to be careful because everything affects you much more.
If you get together with negative people, they suck your energy twice as much because you perceive their pain much more intensely.
It is not easy, and you have to learn to control it to be able to help without hurting yourself.
On the other hand,
Spiritual growth consists of looking for what is wrong with you instead of blaming others and trying to be a better person. Therefore you reflect much more about how you relate to others, and the conclusions you come to can be very intense.
My mother, for example, was challenging to deal with, and I used to avoid spending time with her. Since I am maturing, I realize my mother behaves this way because she lives 24/7 with pain. And that means that I am much more selfish than I thought.
My mother never asked me to thank her as a child, and she moonlighted when my father abandoned us so that my brother and I wouldn’t lack anything.
And I still, to this day, sometimes catch myself doing her a favor and getting offended because she doesn’t thank me and I don’t feel appreciated.
Conclusion: I was a jerk.
And I have realized it since I am maturing spiritually because I see many selfish attitudes in me that I didn’t see before.
That is the price: you cannot grow spiritually without seeing the beam in your eye. And it hurts to realize that you were not as good as you thought. You are not the victim, and you have often been the victimizer.
But all these prices are worth it because when you grow spiritually, you become a better person for yourself, your environment, and society.
So, let’s surf my little Michelangelo.
Cowabunga!
A virtual hug
AG
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