The Spirit of Man
I have been thinking for some time about Spirit. It is one of those things in which I am interested to learn more; it is also something which influences the way I live my life each day. It qualifies as “important” to investigate, but not something that is particularly urgent, and therein lies the “rub.” Because it is not urgent, we place it on the back burner of our lives and deal with more immediate things first.
Our Distractions in Life
Let’s be honest. Incoming email and a ringing phone interrupt the flow of our lives constantly, whether or not they bear important information. This phenomenon has been described as “the tyranny of the urgent.” Don’t get me wrong! Email can be important, such as when important papers need to be initialed or signed, our fourteen-year-old “pup” has to be put down, or friends/relatives become severely and suddenly ill. So many times, though, it’s birthdays, vacations, “friending someone,” or “just checking in.” The urgent has a tendency to distract us from the important things with which we all need to deal.
As I began my search into Spirit, I thought it might be important to begin with a definition. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines spirit as “a vital principle held to give life to physical organisms … a supernatural being or essence.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spirit) This seems to imply that it is a force or energy which resides both within us and outside of us. It not only gives and sustains life, but is also bigger than life itself. WOW! That’s a mind-bender!
” an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms … a supernatural being or essence.”
Spirit is more than religion.
Spirit is more than just religion (man’s process or method for understanding God and living according to His precepts). Many religions exist, but only one life force animates all of life. What I was hoping to discover in this quest was understanding Spirit more, but also to strengthen it in my life and to use it effectively (give it voice) every day to make me a better person. More than just “knowing” about Spirit, I wanted to be able to weave it into the fabric of my life and to go places where I had not yet been.
The Source of the Spirit
If Spirit lives within us, where is it? We cannot see it, but we can certainly see its effect. It is part of the “mind,” along with emotion and intellect. Spirit impacts every part of our bodies in at least four different ways: through neural connections, pressure waves, hormones, and through an electromagnetic field. That places the origin for Spirit directly in our heart. If you want to “read more about it,” look into my book All-In Or Nothing, Master Your Destiny, Chapter 11. The book is available from this website or from Amazon.com. Heartmath, the ways in which the heart and the Spirit influence us, is described further in the book, and is truly fascinating.
Oh, excuse me, the phone is ringing and I feel compelled to answer! More about spirit later. I wonder ….. what keeps us from using spirit more than we do? Back soon!
If you have any thoughts on spirit, please let me know in the comments below.
I would like to thank Heartmath for the use of their information. You purchase their books from their website: Heartmath.com.