In recent years, the concept of a “spiritual journey” has come up many times, however many of you probably didn’t think too much about it and don’t really understand what it is. No one can explain to you what that journey actually is, how you embark on one and what the purpose of it is. The strange name aside, the difficulty in defining it and the large number of people using it just to sell various empowerment workshops hides an important internal process that can bring on a positive revolution in the life of each and every one of us. Therefore, we invite you to read on and learn about this wide and interesting subject, to understand the ultimate goal of a spiritual journey and perhaps to inspire a personal journey of your own, one that will help you achieve your goals.
A spiritual journey describes the process of a person who sets out to deepen their own knowledge, understanding and inner wisdom. This isn’t necessarily a religious journey or a search for a particular faith, but a very personal and intimate process that provides points of thought and insight about life, in which the path to achieving the goals set at the beginning is paved.
Each of us lives a completely different life, comes from a different background, experiences things that are not like any other person's life experience (even if there is sometimes a resemblance or two) and, most importantly, believes in different things. In fact, each of your lives aren’t even like those of your closest family member, making each journey completely unique. Also, it is important to know that there is no right age to embark on the journey, some are ready for it at a very young age while others are better equipped for it at a much older age, it all depends on the mental readiness of each person. In order to embark on this journey, you should use guiding tools that will help you along the way so that you don’t fall into despair or deviate from your guiding line. You don’t have to follow these tips step by step in a certain order and there is no obligation to use all of them, instead, you just need to feel your way along the journey.
Just as in real life, traveling somewhere requires planning, even in a spiritual journey you have to define a goal, because without planning and knowing where you aspire to, there will be no progress. True, as opposed to traveling somewhere in a car or by plane, a spiritual journey doesn’t always have a concrete final destination, and that’s fine since this will change over time, however, you do need to have a somewhat general direction to head towards. If you want to start your journey, you have to first and foremost, define your ultimate goal and stick to it. Do not be discouraged if, on the way, not everything goes smoothly, because if you stick to it you may discover your main goal in life.
As we’ve noted at the beginning, each person has their own personal journey and it isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. You must find the courage to stand on your own and continue the journey even if others try to impose their opinion on you, or tell you that there is only one path that will lead you to the destination and that all the other paths will lead you nowhere. You have to assume that the route chosen by you is best for you and that the path that suits someone else will work only for them. The important thing is that you find your path and it is even more important that you have the courage to go for the path you chose and not be afraid to stand up to those who are trying to dictate norms that don’t suit you.
Now that you've set the goal you're aiming for and you have a rough estimate of where your spiritual journey should lead you, it's time to make a roadmap. The purpose of the map is to serve as a written strategy that will guide the way toward your intended destination. On the map, you can specify your specific goals, down to details about what you intend to do to reach your goals. When you are in the mapping phase, it is important that you emphasize a number of significant goals that you want to achieve, rank them in the order of their importance and act accordingly. Once you’ve done this, you’ll see how vital this map actually is.
It’s important that you know that your spiritual journey doesn’t begin the moment you decided to go on it, but from the day you were born. All the experiences that you’ve been through in life, whether they were moments of joy or sadness, are those that shaped you and are responsible for the way you see and experience the world today. During your spiritual journey, you will find that all these experiences have contributed to important insights, and they play a significant role in a way that will make you smarter and stronger.
To be able to track what you’ve done and try to find out what you need to improve and preserve, keep a diary - writing can be a great way to document the things you’re going through. Write down events that left an impression on you, that are important for you to remember because sometimes we tend to forget details. Moreover, such documentation can give you a glimpse into yourself and help strengthen weaknesses and make necessary changes in your life.
For some people, the greatest goal in their life is to pursue their spiritual journey and the place it leads to. There are those who will spend their whole lives on this journey and that's fine, but that might not be true or right for everyone. So, decide how much time you want to spend on your journey, try to understand what you want to achieve and how much time you have to spend so that you can achieve what you want for the stage you in. However, don’t think of your journey as a trip with a fixed start and end, instead, try to think of it as a lifelong journey of growth. You can try to incorporate new aspects into your life, and check your progress in your journal, so you can achieve a profound change in your life step by step.
Sometimes when you start something good you encounter unexpected delays, as if there is a certain force that is trying to prevent you from moving forward in your life. Therefore, you should know that you can’t plan everything in advance, and even if things do not work out just as you wanted, don’t let this obstacle deter you from continuing on your journey, just look at it as a challenge. If you encounter a problem on the way, try another path and persevere until you succeed. Look at these experiences as down payments for the future, and you may encounter more than one or two difficulties along the way. Know that it is OK to change your course of action as long as it’s your decision. If you make a mistake, don’t punish yourself for it, making mistakes is human. Understand that every setback is there for you to experience, learn and grow, just so you can prevent yourself from making the same mistake again in the future.
Engaging in the spiritual journey means taking responsibility for your life and the actions you do to become better people. The way to do this is by controlling the mind and restraining the ego. Once you have succeeded in conquering this goal and you can make them obey your wishes, progress on your journey will be faster, otherwise, your mind and ego will guide you as they wish and at their own pace. In order to achieve such a high level of self-control, you must restrain the "voice" inside your head and pay attention to the influence of your thoughts on your behavior and how you differentiate between reality and imagination. Find ways of positive thinking, and develop a strategy to clear your mind to take control of the thought process.
Life is one long education, at every stage, there are beautiful moments, but there are also times of difficulty, suffering, and crisis. Usually, the reaction of most people is to move on and wait until the difficult period passes, but a person on a spiritual journey takes a step aside and looks at the big picture. If you ignore what is happening to you in life, you simply go through this suffering for nothing, but if you consider your difficulties as lessons on what you need to do to improve in life, it means that you’ve made great and significant jumps in your life.
It’s true that life isn’t black and white and there are very painful difficulties and challenges that you’ll experience on this journey, but if you look back at the past and the things that you’ve experienced which shaped you for the better, you will understand that everything has a reason – you’ll realize that experiences aren’t random and everything that happens eventually leads to something better.
Many people who embark on a spiritual journey aren’t sure where they will end up, they simply feel an inner drive to do something to change their lives. In most cases, these people can testify that deep within themselves, they know that this is the right decision. When they act on this impulse, they don’t look for the pros and cons of the matter, rather they rely on themselves and their decision to lead them in the right direction. Therefore, if you decide that you are embarking on a spiritual journey, gather courage and follow your gut always, it can lead you to the best places. Furthermore, you must overcome the concerns that arise and not pay any mind to worries or doubts. The same gut feeling, intuition, or instinct is the highest form of guidance you can get, and it will attract you to the right things in most cases.
Once you apply this tip, you’ll find that the unknown is not as scary as you think - remember that if you always follow the path familiar to you, you always return to the same point. To make a real change and reach your goal, you must explore new paths and see where they lead you. As stated, not everything in life can be completely planned, and the illusion of certainty only limits progress, especially on a spiritual journey. If you have the courage to embrace the unknown, you’ll be presented with many opportunities that weren’t available to you before. Don’t be afraid of them, because the fact that they are different from what you’ve done to this day suggests that your journey has brought you to a new place - a place that may allow you to enjoy your life and achieve your goals in effective and surprising ways.
