Whatever your beliefs on faith and philosophy, it’s obvious that we are on earth to grow. In wisdom and for our souls. Life is a gift, and so it makes sense to use it for the good of others, but also for yourself.
It’s during the toughest times of life that you see the true colours of people who say they care. Notice who sticks around and who doesn’t, and be grateful for those who leave you. For they have given you the room to grow, in the space they abandoned. Marc and Angel
What Does It Mean to Grow?
Personal growth is simply a journey to become a truer, wiser and kinder version of yourself. And that happens through learning, honest reflection and then action. Life is not a straight line, but biology gives us clues.
When you cut your finger, it heals miraculously over a few days. If you give up smoking or drinking, your brain forms neural pathways proven by science, to change you into a different person biologically. Growing a baby inside your tummy, is a prime example of the miracle of life.
But we also need to grow our minds and souls. Don’t just run your life on autopilot, never changing beliefs or learning about other cultures and faiths. Don’t just let your life go around in circles, in order to ‘feel comfortable’.
Grow your character. Anyone can change direction for the good. If you’ve been cruel, learn to be kind. If you tell lies, learn to be truthful. If you gossip, keep your mouth shut.
If you don’t know and live your values, then growing your soul is more difficult. If you value honesty, a growing soul will not seek out partners who are unfaithful. If you have friends who lie, you won’t stick around, instead you’ll move on to find friends who value truth, as you do. It takes courage to be resilient, but as a result, you become less fragile, and more able to adapt to life circumstances. The same as other creatures do on our beautiful planet.
The Incredible Story of Bartolo Longo
A great example of someone who ‘grew his soul’ was Bartolo Longo. If you think you can’t ‘grow your soul’, be inspired! This Italian lawyer was born in 1841, and while in Naples became involved in the occult. But this unfortunately went even further, and he became a Satanic priest.
Long story short, he gave it all up, became a devoted Catholic and dedicated his life to the Virgin Mary and rosary, and built orphanages. And only recently (almost 100 years after he died) was canonised as a saint as the ‘Apostle of the Rosary’ (beads that Catholics use for daily prayer).
Growing Souls is Not a ‘Fun Game’
Growing your soul is less about pleasure, and more about purpose. Choose habits that align with your values, and then do the work to help others. Then you don’t ‘fall off the wagon’, if the work is not fun anymore. Soul growth is not a quick ‘aha’ moment, it’s small choices in life habits, which result in daily calm, amid the chaos.
The problem is that today, everything is meant to be ‘fun’, or else people give up. Irish nun Briege McKenna (known for her work praying miracles) wrote that people often tell her they get ‘bored’ when they go to an uninspiring Mass. But she says that she also (occasionally) gets bored. She doesn’t attend to be ‘entertained’. She goes to grow her faith.
Modern ‘spirituality’ is always about ‘having fun’ or ‘getting what you want’. That’s not how ‘growing your soul works’.
There’s barely a town in Ireland that doesn’t have an angel therapist, putting you in touch with your own winged messengers, who can solve everything from birth trauma to getting a parking place outside Tesco. The reason this bogus spirituality-lite appeals to the vulnerable or ignorant is that it offers the bliss of religious experience, without personal effort.
It usually comes packaged with a convenient kind of narcissism, which ‘as long as you are true to yourself’, you are deemed to be a good person. And because it’s essentially meaningless, it fits in nicely with your existing beliefs and prejudices. It’s religion, with all the trouble taken out. Fionola Meredith
