Spiritual Malnutrition

No matter who we are, what we do or where we are in life, the day comes when we finally realize who and what is really important to us.

My day came when I was young girl who transferred from a Catholic school on the east coast, to a private school in the midwest. As I waited outside for my stepmother to pick me up after my first day of school, one of the students asked me what kind of car we had? Another grabbed the back of my blouse to check the label! I stood there like a deer in the headlights, in  shock!

I still don’t know why, but I’ll never forget how I felt. I’d never experienced such superficiality. I literally felt sick to my stomach. No one had ever judged me for what I wore or what my family had or didn’t have. 

I came from privilege, but never experienced this kind of “compare and despair” from others.

Yes, being a chameleon and kind, I chose never to confront the trite ness of my fellow schoolmates.

So, after a year at that school, I chose to transfer to a big public high school that had a four thousand kids. I finally felt at home because I could be anonymous. The school was too big to get caught in the minutiae of the haves and have-nots.

We shouldn’t either.

Things don’t really matter. People, love and kindness matter. 

Material things are lovely and I appreciate them, but they can become the fast-food of life: You eat and an hour later you’re still hungry. Things can become empty calories when we use them to judge others. It can prevent us from true authentic connection. 

Things will never feed an empty soul and only lead to spiritual malnutrition.

To avoid spiritual malnutrition ask yourself these questions…

1. Who am I without my stuff?

2. Who am I without my career?

3. Who am I without my relationship?

4. Who am I without my title?

Chinese Buddhism talks of “The Hungry Ghost”… a being driven by intense cravings and addictions.

I invite you to bring mindfulness and compassion towards the need for materialism to feel “better than” others.

Find out who you are without the exterior trappings. 

Forget titles, labels and things. 

Go deeper. Dig deeper. Live deeper. Love deeper!

And remember to always, always, always go where the love is.

-Susan