Many in this world place great importance in their daily lives to stay physically fit. Usually that entails keeping their body in shape through good exercise and healthy eating habits. But for those like myself trying to recover from an addiction-prone life, staying spiritually fit is far more important.
Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, originally stated that the only path to true recovery from alcoholism was a spiritual one. The same can be said of all addictions as well. I have watched so many people come into the recovery rooms who don’t have this, yet they place a higher priority on getting fit in every other way except spiritually. Sadly, most end up relapsing because of it.
Think about this for a moment. If you are working out on a regular basis and are physically fit and trim because of it, what happens when you stop doing those workouts completely? Will you still stay in that good of shape? Most people won’t and eventually the muscle turns to flab. Well, the same principle can be applied to becoming more spiritually fit. Many of us in recovery will utilize prayer, meditation, attending meetings, sponsorship, and the 12 Steps to get there. But when we stop doing the majority of those things on a daily basis, we start getting out of shape spiritually. While a physical workout is the defense against getting out of shape and gaining weight, a spiritual workout is the defense against all the curveballs that life can throw at us. With no spiritual defense, those curveballs always drove me back into my addictions. Not so when I had a spiritual defense though.
There are countless of other ways that each of us can get spiritually fit as well. Taking walks in nature, volunteering, going on retreats, writing in this blog, and listening to uplifting music are just some of what I’ve done to be more spiritual. I think it’s important to note though that none of us are ever really fully spiritually fit. I say that only for the fact that spirituality is something that truly has no limits. It’s only our ego that places limits on anything and as soon as we allow it to do that, we lose our openness for potential growth.
Most of the great spiritual teachers who have walked the Earth have always maintained a simple attitude that there is always room for growth in one’s spirituality. I’ve found that anytime I start believing I’m completely fit spiritually, I begin to fall away from living a healthy recovery and many of my character defects begin returning.
A wise person once told me that we all must be empty glasses ready to receive the liquid of life because having a full glass will only spill some of our life essences over the side. I try to apply this principle in my life these days as I continue to add and remove things from my daily spiritual routine. But I always make sure to remain more of an empty glass than a full one; because I don’t ever want to lose the spirituality I already have nor prevent it from growing either.
So what I hope you remember most out of all of this is one simple fact.
Staying spiritually fit in life truly means we must work on our spirituality each and every day and always be open for it to constantly change and grow.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson