You Can be Spiritual and...

by COSS Blog Contributor Joann Homen

There is a misconception floating around where people think that spiritual people are all loving, peaceful, calm, and living a life of being "Zen" all the time.

Boy oh boy are they wrong!

I have been a spiritual mentor/teacher for decades and I certainly have not mastered being "Zen" all the time, matter of fact I am NO way near that.

Now that I think about it I really don't think I would want a life a complete "Zen-ness" (is that even a word lol).

If I was "Zen" all the time, well I think life would be less enjoyable. Yeah, you read that right but hear me out. If you were happy all the time you would get bored, you would find that you would no longer be happy because you would have nothing to compart happy too because it would be your constant state of being.

Decades ago, when I owned a flower shop, I remember one of our clients (who was incredibly wealthy) came in during the spring break and to buy his wife flowers. He was mentioning to me that his teenage children where giving him a hard time about having to go to, get this, to their semi-private island that their dad owned in the Caribbean (they shared the island with famous actor Sidney Poitier).

Oh, it was so boring there, there is nothing to do, we always go there they said, we don’t want to go there anymore. My jaw dropped to the floor, and I was shocked to hear him say this.

After I got over my initial shock of him saying this and past my judgement that his kids were spoiled brats, I realized, this was just another day on daddy’s boring island to them. It was no longer special because this was their norm, and because it was their norm, they were bored with it.

This scenario is a perfect example of why I think we need a little bit of disruption in our life to make us actually appreciate what we have and being in a happy state.

So, my spiritual friends, the next time you think you should try to suppress the less than pleasant emotions that might come your way, instead, use them to help you appreciate the happy "Zen" times in your life.

Embrace the emotions and see them for the wonderful gifts they can be!