A Late Start - Spirituality Month



Dont, don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when
you say that you don't need me.

I've been a little frustrated with my productivity lately. February ended up being a very high-maintenance month. Cooking every meal was time consuming. I listened to my book every chance I got. It's over now, and it was great! Comes very highly recommended. Along with all that, I've had a decent amount of schoolwork to keep me busy in addition to a fun little bug I seem to have contracted. Which means I get a lot less done that I would like each night! Still on the agenda for "money month" is finishing my tablecloth and setting up my etsy store. I can't wait, but I want to do it right! I'd like to have more than only a couple of items to start out with. On the money month note, I'm also planning on getting my car on the market soon. And all the while, trying not to get too frustrated with the fact that I have to spend 40+ hours of valuable Year o' No Regrets time at the office every week.
Onto Spirituality Month. I have a pretty open mind when it comes to spirituality, but I think that I've shut it out altogether for the most part in the past few years because of some negative feelings toward the churches I've attended. I'm not looking to get into a religious debate here, simply to flesh out my thoughts and feelings and desires when it comes to the spiritual side of my life and developing it further.


Most of my friends go to one particular church. I attended a Christmas music service, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to go there on a couple of different Sundays this month, and I also plan to listen to the audiobook The God Delusion. I've heard some things about it, and I don't know that I agree with any of it, but I'd like to look at both sides and try to get a little bit better spiritual footing. I also plan to read The Four Agreements (a book of Toltec wisdom - predecessors to the Aztecs and fathers of much of their culture). The Four Agreements are as follows:

Be Impeccable With Your Words
Don't Take Anything Personally
Don't Make Assumptions
Always Do Your Best

I am most attracted to "Don't Take Anything Personally". The idea is that everyone may have reasons and motives for their behavior, but their behavior is a direct reflection on them, not the person who it may be directed at. People who kind and generous are generally going to be kind and generous with everyone, while someone with a cold and heavy heart may treat others badly. I love the idea of disregarding others' negative words and actions toward you as a reflection on them, and not you. All I've read is a little summary, but I can already tell that I'll love this book.

I'm starting a little late, but at the tail end of 4 Hour Work Week, he talked about a complaint bracelet. Maybe that's not what it's called. I think I'd rather dub mine a "gripe band". The idea is that you must move the bracelet from one wrist to the other each time you make a complaint. Any complaint. Count 1 for each day that you don't complain, and start over when you move your bracelet. He talked about 21 days, but I think I would like to try 14 to start out with and to give me a better chance of making it to 14 before the month is out. I think a lot of this will be in the phrasing of my conversations. Rather than make complaints, I will strive for suggesting solutions.

That's four resolutions. My last is to stop Facebooking and Words-with-Friendsing on my phone. I'm beginning to notice (okay, okay... I've noticed for a while) that this are huge time-suckers. In keeping with my "zen" and spiritual goals, I think some relative peace and freedom from comment alerts and the compulsion to spend ten minutes coming up with a 100 point word is in order. I will still text message, but seeing as how I quit watching TV to avoid the mindless, pointless time-drain, I can see that a phone intervention for these two activities at the very least could be appropriate as well. They're already deleted as of last night, and I don't plan to reinstall until April 1st. Maybe not even then!

One last word about No-Spend Month. I started making a list during the month of things I wanted to buy when it was over. Here is part of it:

Frozen yogurt
"More Than a Feeling" (iTunes)
Water bottle (I wanted a good, sturdy, BPA-free one for working out)

I bought ALL of these things tonight! It was fun. In addition, I bought a book of family games for one of my favorite families, and a small present for a good friend (who reads this blog, therefore said present shall remain unnamed). I also got an amazing bag of cocoa, died cherry, pecan and almond granola (Creative Harvest, if anyone's wondering. They had it at TJ Maxx); new dishcloths; and a dish scrubber brush. At my last stop it was a can of protein shake mix and a dog house for Dulce. I feel like a big spender! On the other hand, I'm still throwing away coupons and catalogs that come in the mail, and that's fun, too.