Improving Your Religious/Spiritual Experience
Experiment
Would you buy a pair of pants with trying them on? Would you buy a car without test driving it first? If you answered “no” then do not choose a religion based on the views of others. Instead, go for a test drive.
Churches and places of worship are always open to newcomers learning about their processes and beliefs. Find a system of experimentation that works for you depending on how long your list of possibilities has become. Maybe a different service each week is appropriate or maybe you could try it out for a month. There is no right or wrong length if it feels comfortable.
Commit
Being committed fully to the practice or principles of a religion or spiritual stance is the only way to discover the complete potential of what it has to offer. This does not mean that you must commit for your lifetime.
Think of it as a cell phone contract. Commit for a period like six months, one year or two years. After your period of commitment is over, you are free to start the explore, education and experiment process over again. If you have not found the best fit, it could mean that you are not looking in the best places.
Behaviors to Build
Utilize Supports
If you followed the steps above to identify and commit to a system, use the supports. Religious organizations and spirituality groups typically have so many resources available to their followers.
Leaders to speak with, dinners to attend and services to worship at are only the beginning of the supports you can access. Failure to seek these out and not engaging in them indicates that you are not fully committed to your faith. The consequence is that lupus gains ground against you.
Prayer
Prayer is a fantastic behavior that many people find great comfort in. Like other behaviors, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to pray.
Ask for some advice from your religious or spiritual leader if the process feels new or uncomfortable to you. Otherwise, find what is comfortable and feels rewarding.
Find Peace
This is a more open-ended behavior that you can accomplish many different ways. Finding peace means reaching a state of mind that is quiet, calm and soothing. Some achieve this state through prayer while others seek other opportunities.
Being alone, listening to inspirational or thought-provoking music or simply paying attention to your own breath provides a sense of peace. Lupus works to create a war inside you making peace even more valuable.
Appreciate Nature
Whether you identify yourself as religious or spiritual, there is something amazing about being in nature. Looking at the same four walls can make you feel trapped and bring about depression. Exploring what the world has to other can make your issues seem insignificant in the vastness of outdoors. Many find this freeing.
Laugh
There is something indescribable about the act of laughing. As a behavior, you already know its psychological benefit, but it can do more.
Laughing, especially in groups, empowers a connection between you and the others sharing your experience. Connection to others is a vital part of spirituality and religion.
