Inspiration

Recently, someone sent me a message and asked if I was adjusting to the single life –  again.  I had to pause for a moment before words could form in my mind.  I realized that over the past three months I had not identified myself as being single, again.

This journey has caused me to go into deep reflection over choices I have made, choices I didn’t make and accepting the blessings and outcomes of it all.  It leaves me with only one way to answer that person’s question –

I don’t feel single. I don’t feel alone at all. I have found that I am settling into the person God wants me to be.

Wow. It has taken me 25 years to get this.  Life is not about being single or being married. Life is about love – perfect love.  For God, for self, for others.  Yesterday, when I answered the question, I breathed in life – and it felt good.

The feeling I have right now is all about settling into myself and creating the space for love – pure love. This must be the feeling the character Celie felt in the Color Purple when she said, “And then I figure this the lesson I was suppose to learn.”

About a month ago while I was in Target, I picked up the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. My co-worker recommended the book to me many months ago, but I never bothered to take an interest in it. I wasn’t in a hurry to read a book about a woman’s wonderful travels all over the world eating great food. I am so glad that I chose to buy this book, and I think the Universe knew exactly the time I needed to read it!

This is not a book review, but a story of how I was inspired by the book to pursue my own spiritual life. I grew up in a very small Baptist Church, old-time Baptist Church, and for all my life the word “meditate” felt like it meant I would be cheating on God. Meditate to who? Isn’t that what Buddhists do? So I’m sitting here reading Eat, Pray, Love, and I see so much of myself in this book. I see me trying to go deeper with God, trying to be still more, trying to be joyful and just live. Breathe.

Elizabeth’s own spiritual journey inspired me, but so does Russell Simmons. Two totally different people with totally different backgrounds, but yet each seems to have found that place of peace that only comes when you are in tune with your spirituality. He talks about his belief in practicing yoga and meditation in a way that I’ve never heard a Christian say before. Russell truly believes that yoga brings you in communion with God. He also says the “closest thing we can have to the Holy Spirit in our body is our breath.” Now this is the type of meditation I can live with.

So, I’ll continue to write and let you know how my journey is going. I pray that I won’t bore you death. I do intend to eat, pray & love!