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Spiritual Pitfalls

Spiritual living has never been more accessible or widely known than in our day-in-age.

There seems to be an almost endless amount of resources: gurus, self-improvement classes, yoga teacher trainings…on and on.

And of course, all of these are important and have their own purpose.

But there are pitfalls in anything, and spirituality is not without them!

Sometimes it can even create a deeper connection to the ego, fear, or harmful habits.

Here are 5 roadblocks to avoid if you’re really serious about your spiritual path.

SEE ALSO: Will You Incarnate As An Animal? A Buddhist Take

You’re waiting on something to happen

Breakthroughs on the spiritual path only come from hard work and perseverance, so it’s easy to get lazy.

I mean, who wants to work?

The ultimate manifestation of this is when you start to believe some kind of miracle is going to happen and pull you out of whatever funk you’re having.

You end up forgetting all of life’s precious moments.

You can’t wait for things to just fall from the sky…you have to act.

Take the power of your spiritual life into your hands!

Following blindly

It’s easy to be influenced by close friends, family, or culture- particularly in regards to religion.

It’s easy to just go with the flow…even if you don’t necessarily agree with everything.

But in regards to spirituality, it’s paramount to find your own path.

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You have to find a way to acknowledge your own opinions and values, and square them with whatever beliefs or practices work for you.

And that’s an individual choice.

So if you haven’t found what works for you, start looking!

I promise you’ll feel much better after you’ve begun to fulfill your own spiritual needs.

Excluding others

Spiritual community is fantastic because it gives tremendous support towards spiritual goals.

But it can have a dark side.

When it comes to those outside the “group”, it’s easy to have the viewpoint that they’re not as important.

A true sign of spiritual growth is when we want to include others, not exclude them.

The pursuit of perfection

Lots of people get preoccupied with the idea of perfection, or what is known as enlightenment.

Words like “positive thinking” and “positive intentions” are thrown around regularly.

But life isn’t all rainbows and spiritual cream puffs.

Life has some really dark aspects, and they have to be dealt with.

You’re not going to wake up every day and feel like a million bucks, nor is everyone else.

Not only that, but you’ll make huge mistakes in life too- judging people, thinking negatively of others, etc.

That doesn’t make you a bad spiritual practitioner…it just makes you human.

True spirituality makes room for that, and recognizes that our nature is both light and dark.

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