View of SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

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ACCENT JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS ECOLOGY & ENGINEERING

Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) Vol. 05, Special Issue 05, (ICET-2020)July 2020 Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

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SPIRITUAL WELLNESS Dr. Sr. Alice Thomas

Principal, St. Paul Institute of Professional Studies, Indore

I would take you into a journey that would help you see a different aspect and dimension of life.

We all know that how man thinks and plans is very different from the plan of God. A number of times we also have heard that man proposes but God disposes.

In all what happens in our lives, we should have faith believing that all things work together for good to them that love God, who are called according to his purpose.

We have heard a number of times that ‘Change is one constant in our lives’, ‘There is nothing permanent in this world except change’.

But dear participants it is important to understand that change doesn't make our lives easy. A huge change that the humanity experienced was towards the end of the year 2019 and the whole year 2020 brought about a drastic change in our lives.

Yes, I am talking about the pandemic COVID – 19. The entire mankind was wonderstruck with the outburst of the deadly virus. We have been seeing the lockdown as the period of suffering and distress. An idle mind mentality could lead to occurrences of being anxious and depressed. But, if we quietly see the other side of the coin we would realize that this change has also brought in some blessings.

We are responsible for the Wuhan virus because it is the humans who created the virus. It is apparent that we are punished for our own mistake for playing with the virus and technology. The entire humanity is affected and is paying for the wrong done by some people.Even then, God alone inspired the scientist and gave them wisdom to invent vaccine. Thanks to God.

As we are called to be idle at home, it paved way to use this time to think about our lives and how we might do things differently. It gave chance for us to reflect and look into our life that was otherwise not possible due to complexities of life. This idle time compelled us to sit, reflect and turn into our lives.

This time also came as test of our patience. As most of us were at home with the family members, it tested our patience and mutual bearing capacity. It is indeed the blessing of God that we are safe till this hour of time.

We could relieve our stress at workplace by getting engrossed in the professional work and conversing with the colleagues but, being forced to be at home took away this stress reliever from us. But, it built our endurance capacity.

There was no place to move. All were forced to sit at one place. All celebrations came to end. All celebrations came to a halt. People understood that marriages could also be done with a gathering of 50 people. The lavish spending on marriages and show of too came to an end.

The Corona time period brought the family members close together. It developed the capacity of bearing and helping each other, managing time and expenses with the limited income.

This period also was a boon for health. The use of medicine by many people during this period became less. Going to hospitals too was reduced. Previously, even for a small ailment, people used to rush to the hospital, but, worrying about that they may not be inflicted by Corona, people stayed at home. Although this resulted in increased of weight but it reduced the medicine intake. Is it not a blessing? Yes it is!

Almost all learnt the new technology. The studentsround the world learnt the new technology because they knew that technology was the only option to continue their studies, education and learning experience. Now all have become tech-savvy. Additionally, there were so many webinars being held and getting time to participate in those inspiring and knowledgeable talks was also a blessing of corona virus.

Not only this, but Corona also gave more time for meditation, yoga, contacting friends and talking to them to brought happiness. Although the domestic violence cases during lockdown increased, but it taught us the lesson that how the family together can face challenges.

Now that lockdown and restrictions have decreased to minimal, but, it calls for the time to stay focused on the spiritual disciplines in our lives, such as prayer and

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meditation, because these disciplines apply to many faiths. Prayer is the way to connect to the deity, and this time of distancing one's self from people and events gives us an opportunity to focus more on the spiritual deity that may be the most important aspect of our life.

So, on the seventh day, of student development programme, which is specifically dedicated to spiritual wellness, I would like to draw your attention towards an important aspect of our life that will help us not only for the life on earth but also for the life after death. Just like the punch line of Life Insurance Corporation of India ‘Zindage k saathbhi, indage k baadbhi.’

And this aspect is SPIRITUALITY

I invite you to explore your life purpose by asking some spiritual questions from yourself like:-

1. Am I a good person?

2. What is the meaning of my suffering?

3. What is my connection to the world around me?

4. Do things happen for a reason?

5. How can I live my life in the best way possible?

In simple words, spirituality is about seeking a meaningful connection with something bigger than you, the DIVINE which can result in positive emotions, such as peace, awe, contentment, gratitude and acceptance. And cultivating a positive state of mind coupled up with spirituality can broaden your outlook to recognize and incorporate a connection to something larger than yourself.

We sometimes wonder that we are so much involved in the studies and learning then how can we practice spirituality and become spiritual. Therefore, I wish to share that being spiritual does not require any extra efforts. It is your attitude towards life and rather it is a way of leading the life.

It is not necessary that those who have renounced their life what we call as Sanyas, can only remain spiritual. We as students can also practice spirituality. So let me share the qualities of a spiritual person and tips for practicing spirituality.

We are studying different program courses. At any moment of life you should be faithful towards your parent, towards your studies, towards hard work when any project is assigned to us, we should be faithful in completing it successfully. We need to possess sincerity in our personal and professional life and lead one to grow in faith.

A spiritual person is energetic, alert and aware.Please remember that the light of God is always present in our life. So, whatever happens in our life we should be ready to face all the challenges, believing that the light of God is there in our heartswhich will remove all the traces of darkness.

We need to be always faithful to our God.It is said at one place in the Holy Bible that howwe expect the others to behave withus, we should behave in the same manner with them.This applies to our relation with God as well.If we expect God to be earnestly listening to what we want from him, then in reciprocation we also should be sincere and should listen to what God is saying.

Yet another quality of being spiritual is to be humble, simple, to have patience, endurance, calmness and a truthful heart. Blessings of God will always flow in the form of wisdom to a person who is spiritual.

We need to understand that in order to enhance our spirituality, it is very important to always do good for others. When we do good to others we should be satisfied by having done so. While doing so we should not proclaim or boast about the good we have done for others.

One very important aspect of spirituality is satisfaction and contentment. This also applies to your present situation students. There are many students whobelieve that currently they must only invest their time forstudies and building their career.It will give them good life and career ahead. It is necessary to understand that the studying hours and learning time needed for your studies would be more without spiritual quotient but it will not provide you any wisdom. For studies, a strong mind, high concentration power, disciplined life and patience to practise & rehearse is essential. Running away from meditation or yoga will lead to poor retrospective analysis .Spirituality develops an positive intent in student to understand their strengths and weakness so that they can be prepared

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better for their future goals. If the blessing of God is not there on your studies and learning then your wisdom and knowledge will not lead you prosperous future.

Trusting in the God, being holy, being kind, forgetting the bad done by others and forgiving them are also some important traits of a spiritual person.

It is said in the Holy Bible do not judge others. I wish to say that we do not have the right to judge anyone because the one who has the power to judge the human is God.

As a spiritual person we should not cause any harm to others whether it is human being or animals or plants. We must to compassionate towards all the living creature around us.

Steadiness in spiritual life is imperative. It is necessary to comprehend that spirituality is anongoing process. It is ongoing formation that may not happen in a single day. Thus, everyday with patience we need to spend time in prayer with God.

We all have limitations, but one dimension of spirituality is that we should try to become better each day. With this attitude at the end of the day,at the end of the week, at the end of the month, at the end of the year, we would become a better person than what we were yesterday.

I want to clarify that it does not mean that spiritual people do not face any hardship.

Being spiritual does not make our life easy. But, yes, with trust in God we would sail safely through all challenges and difficulties.

For all the hard work that we put on the earth, the reward would be given in the heaven. Because it is only our heavenly father who has the right to give the reward and being able to be the part of Heaven is the biggest reward that we can ever get. We run behind all the materialistic things and luxuries. In the course of acquiring these materialistic luxuries, we forget that we are drifting away from God. Wet end to spend time less time with God. We forget that we are spiritual person we forget that spirituality is important for each human being to enter into the kingdom of God. Life on this earth is not permanent. One day everyone has to pass, everyone's life would come to an end. Think what would happen to our souls after death. If we have done good deeds and have remained holy in our earthly life, we would enter into the heaven. There we will have a peaceful and blessed life.

We may encounter struggles but believe that with time, with prayer, with patience and with faith all these struggles with pass away and the grace of God in the form of joy and happiness would enter into your heart.

Here are some practices you can incorporate into your life every day, which will help you to live more spiritually.

Try to begin each day with meditation and prayer, even if it is only for a minute.

This will allow you to start your day from a place of peace, feeling more centered and grounded.

Read spiritual literatureand make it a treasured compliment to your daily meditation.

Practice gratitude. Bringing more gratitude into your life is a game changer. I firmly believe that the more gratitude you express, the more the Universe will provide you to be grateful for.

Let the ego be always absent in your life.

Practice silence and pause. Silence actually has a lot of importance as it a basis of a lot of realizations.

Carry the positive energy wherever you go spreading love and positivity.

Be fully aware of your body, thoughts, emotions and ideas but be simply unattached to it, like the lotus in the pond is very much in the mud but it still remains untouched by all that is around it.

Practice humbleness. Observe a Mango tree. Its branches move outward & upward, but when it's laden with fruits, the tree bows down in humility. So also the spiritually evolved person becomes humble & simple.