Soren Kierkegaard”
The spirit as I understand it is a part of me that relates
to my belief system, what I value and how I motivate myself, the very essence
of who I am. It symbolises for me the
quality of one’s life and how much you allow yourself to live and enjoy that
life. To have a thriving spirit I think
you need to really understand yourself and know yourself physically, mentally
and spiritually. The spirit can be
impacted by the things that we experience in life; these experiences can be negative or positive and each will have their
own individual impact and without doubt it is always interesting to see how we
develop and grow from these experiences.
My spirit that I have come to know and love is something
that I cherish dearly. It keeps me
motivated, helps me enjoy life, builds relationships, develops friendships, motivates
me to work, it helps me learn and experience life and continuously challenges me
in that learning. I worry sometimes that
life and the very difficult challenges it brings could ever break my spirit. However I believe that my spirit is a great
source of containment and support to me even when times feel very fragile. A wounded spirit can be
extremely hard to mend, there have been many challenges to me and my spirit but
luckily it continues to thrive, despite the bruising and hurt at times. I wonder what it is that keeps one’s spirit
alive and nurtured; no doubt it can be different for everyone, religious
beliefs, personal meanings, life experiences, what the world and living means for
each individual is of course part of that.
I am forever thankful that I can “bounce back” from challenging
experiences and for that I am eternally grateful. What helps me is a deep determination in me
not to allow my spirit to be broken; there is a part of me that no matter what
the challenge is that I know somehow I will survive it and eventually make
meaning of it. It may have a huge impact
on my life but to remind myself that I will get through it and that I will
continue to grow, develop and challenge myself through the experience helps. Knowing your strengths, and acknowledging your
weaknesses is a sign of maturity.
I know that part of
what keeps my spirit going is the people that are dear to me, the people who I
truly value in my life, the
relationships I have with them, the love and the kindness that they show to me. In a funny way the people who haven’t shown
that kindness are also people that I do eventually feel grateful for because
they have also shown me something too and reminded me of what I don’t want to
be like.
I also believe that to have something to work towards, to
find something that you like to work at is an important motivator to have in
life. My own work as a psychotherapist
brings me into contact with so many people and their stories; I continue to
feel amazed and privileged by the stories and the very personal journeys that I
am honoured to share and witness. What
people have come through, the challenges, the abuses, and the struggles and yet
their stories and their will to survive and work towards a good quality of life
are so inspirational. The work of Psychotherapy
continues to make me curious, curious about life, the people living those
lives, the learning, and the challenges and drive to understand. When I think
about it, it is really what life is all about - transitions. We continue to change, to grow older, life
changes, people change around us, and societies, cultures, and the world we can
be sure will never ever stay still.
Living life to the full brings with it challenges risks and
opportunities.
Developing resilience is certainly something that helps,
being able to support ourselves, trust ourselves, acknowledge our emotions,
look for support when we need it are certainly things that assist us in
that. Self-care and mindfulness are two
more things that we need to adhere to.
How we learn to value and respect ourselves is also something that we
need to continually nurture. We will not
allow anyone else to devalue or disrespect us if we hold those two things dear. I believe our need and our right to fight for
what is right is also an asset to the survival of the spirit, knowing how to
use our anger in a constructive way is well worth its weight in gold.
To always remember that you have choices, options and freedom
no matter what - something one should never let go of. Find time to do what you love, something that
is healthy and nurturing, walk, sing, dance, paint, laugh, swim, whatever it is,
whatever “floats your boat” they are the
kind of things that we should always make time for. If all else fails take a “leap of faith”.
Lastly I think of Viktor Frankl who survived some of the
worst experiences anyone should have to endure in their lives. His contributions to the world from his
experience and his determination to make meaning out of one of the most
horrific experiences one could ever imagine is an inspiration to the world and
a reminder of why we should keep our spirit alive and well no matter what the
situation is.
“Between stimulus
and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our
response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
