The Spiritual Path: How to Create Heaven on Earth

What does spiritual success look like? Success in a spiritual lifestyle is not defined by how much stuff you have managed to accumulate in your lifetime or how incredible your job is. And money is not a template that can be used to measure spiritual integrity. Are you more spiritual than others if you have attracted a slew of exciting relationships? Are worldly manifestations a sign that you are more connected to God than others? No, they are not. Yes, it is fantastic to have all of these in your life, but not proof that you are spiritually advanced. Most importantly, your spirituality is between you and God, and not manifested as evidence that you are more worthy of attention from the world than others. You experience spiritual success when you accept yourself as you are right now, without having expectations that God will fix you and make your life more perfect than it already is. When you accept and love yourself the way you are, you are loving what God has created and are choosing to appreciate the gifts that you were blessed to receive. By choosing to live in a state of gratitude, you are letting the world know that you love yourself and are deserving of God’s blessings. Only from this place of gratitude and self-love, will you be able to live an empowered, creative life where you accept responsibility for all that you think, say, and do. When you love yourself as you are, you are recognizing that you have been born into the body you were given for a reason. Yes, you can choose to better yourself, but you must first love yourself the way you are, every day, to live a highly effective life, with integrity, while self-actualizing the virtues. Every person, place, and opportunity that you attract into your experience has been drawn to you to help you to fulfill your purpose for living. There is no one like you. You are a unique individualization of God, here to bless the planet with your special gifts. When you appreciate your specialness, you can celebrate and give thanks for who you are. Because God is love, your acknowledgment of this truth helps you to live a charmed life. As you travel forth adventuring into the unknown, you uncover your uniqueness and learn how you can make your own impact on the world in a way that blesses everyone. Not everyone is the same. If you are talented in the arts, you will be more prone to manifest great works of art over a person who has no training in that area. When you make choices that bless the world, you are increasing the odds of positive things taking form in your life. You will attract exactly what you need to assist in the fulfilling of your purpose. If you choose to use your willpower without taking inspired right action, you will obtain a false sense of happiness that is temporary and fleeting. If you’re not taking inspired right action, then you are acting from a place of insecurity and fear in an effort to get what you need at the expense of others. Without an equitable, honest energy exchange, you tip the scales in your favor to allow you to take more than your fair share. This creates blockages that cut off your supply from other areas that could have brought far more satisfaction and joy to your life. Your fear and lack of trust in a higher power has caused you to cheat yourself, and as a result is now preventing you from experiencing a higher quality of life experience. If you intentionally force your will in an overly competitive manner upon another without concern for their well-being, you are not in integrity. If your aggressiveness has urged you forward to take more than what is due to you, you are out of balance. If you take action in a forceful unethical manner, the world will respond to your greed in a way that robs you of healthy self-esteem and more. You can’t hide from the Universe. What you choose to deal out to others is dealt back to you in an equal manner. On the spiritual path some people believe that proof of spiritual success is revealed in the manifestation of specific demonstrations of wealth out-pictured in body, mind, and spirit. The problem with this thinking is that it doesn’t take into account that too specific requests can result in your will being forced to create that which your ego believes is best for you. What needs to be taken into consideration is whether what you desire will be gained in a manner that is helpful and not harmful to others. To experience real happiness in your life, you must also realize that you are perfect as you are without trying to change yourself. Accepting your perfection allows you to enjoy the dance of life while making creative choices to bless the world. If you perceive your success to be somewhere out there beyond your reach, because at this time in your life you feel undeserving of success, you will forever be on a quest to become whole, never accepting of your unique and special gifts. Success is not found in the physical accumulation of the various forms of wealth where you engage in a constant struggle to see who has the most toys, the most friends, the best lifestyle, etc. Instead, real success is found in the manifestation of spiritual integrity. Success is acquired in the letting go of what is believed to be best for you and then, from that new awakened state of being, making an enlightened choice that is for the highest good of all concerned to do that which is honorable and respectful of all life. When you radiate love energy outward into the world to draw to you that which matches your purpose, you are being true to your higher self. When you trust in a