[NF] NFP spirituality

[ericajoy]

How do you get back in touch with spirituality?

I don't know any of you. I am just jumping in because I am feeling kind of lost and my kids are both sleeping and who knows how long that will last.

I am totally agnostic, but I feel like I need some spirituality in my life. Maybe some mother earth or drum circle rhythm or yoga or something. How do you get back to some spirituality when it hasn't been a part of you for a long time. And it is definitely not a part of your partner.

Has anyone else been here? I feel like I have lost a large part of me and I don't know how to find it.

 

[grasshoppersings]

Here's a challenge for you.
Ask God to prove himself to be real to you.
What's the worst that can happen?

 

[Nonsensical]

Get in touch with yourself. It is inside you. Push everything aside going on in your life and do some reflective thinking to get engaged with yourself.

I think I am very spiritual, but sometimes it comes and goes. I've surrendered to trying to always keep it intense, and giving it up to some supreme force that I have faith will take me down the path of life. I think a lot of it has to do to surrendering and realizing you aren't in charge, a lot happens that you have little control over, and the best you can do it remain a shining diamond in the face of trouble.

Spirituality isn't a thing you follow. You don't need Yoga, a drum circle, or any of that. Spirituality is you, yourself, and the universe. Try to reach this. Set everthing temporary and superficial in its place and take a step ahead of it so you can't see it. Listen to your soul sing, and let it take you. The possibilities are endless and the path is unknown.

 

[Lady_X]

yeah...you know when you're in a period of introspection and trying to figure out why things happened or are happening the way they are...maybe you're outside at the park with your kids or alone on the couch at night...just explore those reasons...see if you can make spiritual connections that feel right to you...or explore various spiritual websites or books...just reading...figuring out what you think about them.

 

[Amargith]

Go for a walk in nature. Leave your cell phone at home, take some food and water with, maybe a blanket. Find a spot that speaks to you and take your shoes off. Sit down if you want to. Let it come to you

 

[INTJ123]

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKSq2tV1kE"][YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKSq2tV1kE"][/YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE].

 

[ericajoy]

In the past a lot of my spirituality came from having long discussions with people about their perspective on spiritual possibilities and how they see the world. I love when I encounter someone who blows my mind with some new possibility, like when I heard a Hindu guy tell a Christian evangelical, "I understand Jesus, but why ONLY Jesus." I had never really thought about that question before. I don't always find many answers and I am ok with that, but I used to find possibilities. Maybe that is what I am thirsty for -- something to blow my mind, to make me feel the magic in life.

My life has become so mundane. I love my children and my husband, but I'm missing something. I don't feel energized like I used to. I feel needy, moody and self-centered and boring and bored. I am totally in a funk and I want out!

 

[Lady_X]

yeah i totally relate to that...love those sorts of exploratory conversations as well...and love that perspective from hindu guy.

sorry you're bored...enfp curse...or...blessing..whichever way you react to it i guess..

 

[Thalassa]

Being in nature is a very spiritual experience for me. I tend to have spiritual experiences alone as well in groups with others. I feel that being alone in nature in silent prayer or simply a sort of meditation while walking really feeds my spirit. Sometimes I'll just create a space at home with candles and incense for a time of meditation, prayer, reflection, whatever. Studying spiritual texts can be helpful too. For me that is.

It's a very individual thing. Sometimes I go to a liberal Christian church, and I've even slipped quietly into several Catholic masses on occasion, but going to church too regularly makes it feel like religion rather than genuine spirituality.

I wish you the best on your quest to find what will be best for your reconnection with spiritual things.

 

[INTJ123]

you are probably on what they call a spiritual plateau. I was on mine for nearly a year, it was beginning to physically hurt me because my body was reacting to my negative feelings. I had a spontaneous healing or something the other day it's quite weird actually but I'm enjoying it a lot!

I feel and move literally like I'm 5 years younger.

 

[Charmed Justice]

I'm agnostic as well, but I get "spiritual" satisfaction through laying out in nature and just listening to the wind blow through the trees, observing the natural sounds and smells around me, and using all of my senses to feel the magic of the world. To me, spirituality=appreciation for the beauty of the world and its inhabitants. Being agnostic, to me, simply means not drawing any conclusions about how it all got here. I just observe and enjoy. I also listen to intense global/world music, some of which I can literally feel, pulsating throughout my body. Doing so reminds me of how connected we all are to each other, and the beauty in that brings me to a higher place.

 

[Lady_X]

wow...us enfps are so alike in this way...what a trip!

 

[Moiety]

Being agnostic, to me, simply means not drawing any conclusions about how it all got here.

Agreed. And it's because I'm agnostic too that I don't really understand spirituality. What does being spiritual mean anyway?Is it not believing in something you have no proof or reason to believe? Seems just like any religion to me.

I see that religion is beneficial to some people, though. The power of the subconscious is very real. Believing in a lie or a non-fact can help but I can only understand it if you accept you are believing a lie( or a non-fact).

Like optimism. It's not factual, it's faith. I believe in "it will all end well", but the difference I think is that I don't care if it's true or false. Because it's vague, it doesn't say anything about the physical world, and it says nothing about others' fate unless they are tied to me.

 

[Nonsensical]

Spirituality isn't a social thing to me.

I can have discussions and talks with others about it, but it doesn't do much.

It goes beyond all physical means. It's the ballad of your soul, and the only way to achieve it is when you set everything aside and surrender. Everything is temporary, your spiritual connection is eternal.

But it depends on how you view Spirituality. I see it as a form of transcendence to this physical realm we call earth, others may find it as being alone in the woods with your shoes off, or something. There is no right or wrong, though.

 

[PeaceBaby]

Are your children very young? Under the ages of 5?

What I found / find challenging as a mother was the sense of losing myself to the needs and wants of my whole family. It was as though a whole new chapter in the life of "me" started the day I became a mother and the chapters that followed were / are still an intricate blend of me and my husband and my children, in a way that requires me to allow them inside that space in my mind that I usually reserve for "me". And that's not "bad" it just means sometimes the definition of you as an individual can become and feel a little undefined, blurry. And from that, feeling somewhat lost, unclear of your purpose.

You sound like you are searching for meaning, and a spiritual exploration can help stir that sense of purpose. In the everyday-ness of raising a family, it can very much feel like the larger meaning is somehow being missed-out on. Make time for yourself, not a bubble bath, I mean pursue something that fuels a passion and DROP something else. Passion is where you connect to the divine. The biggest error I think I made was not in finding stuff I liked to do that connected me spiritually or passionately to my core, but in trying to DO IT ALL! So remember to maintain a balance.

I send you a big and a reminder that you are doing a very important job too - being a loving mom to your family.

 

[ericajoy]

My children are very young, 2.3 years and 6 months. We are stuck at home a lot. I feel isolated from other people. I do feel like I am losing myself in all of it; like I am not able to work on my projects or my goals. I feel like I have NO time for myself. My husband, an INTJ, when I tell him I need closer relationships with people, suggested that I try having sex with him (which I am currently very uninterested in.)

I try to make projects out of homemaking tasks like cooking. I have been working on making my own bread and jam and cheese. I feel like I need something to keep me interested in my domesticated life. But then, when the kids are crying, I feel very selfish that I want to put these silly projects before my children's needs. I think I am more interested in my projects than my kids.

I am also currently not speaking to my mother, an ISTJ, because I am feeling unloved and rejected by her and I think she might be toxic for me to talk to. This makes me very sad and very alone. But she only talks to me because she feels obligated.

Spirituality is something that might be missing, something that I might be able to explore to add meaning to my life.

I can't figure out how to get out of this rut. I feel so isolated from other people which makes me feel very sad. But the more isolated I feel, the more needy I feel, so the more I isolate because I don't like being around people when I feel so needy because I am afraid of not being accepted and if I start talking about me I might never stop. How do I get out of this negative feedback loop? I feel totally empty, like it is impossible to fill me up. Like I can't get enough from people and I just keep needing no matter what people give me.

Thank you for reminding me about balance.

 

[Scott N Denver]

I love when I encounter someone who blows my mind with some new possibility, like when I heard a Hindu guy tell a Christian evangelical, "I understand Jesus, but why ONLY Jesus." I had never really thought about that question before.

My life has become so mundane. I love my children and my husband, but I'm missing something. I don't feel energized like I used to. I feel needy, moody and self-centered and boring and bored. I am totally in a funk and I want out!

Ooh another Colorado person, and an NFP one at that!

Married to an INTJ huh, that seems to go one of tow ways for NFP's: really good or really bad. I'll withhold my opinion on this matter since it neither really matters nor changes anything.

As per the above, yes Hindusim is very open and pluralistic about things. No joke, some of the most emphatic respect I've ever heard people say about Jesus has come from Hindu's, maybe all of it.

I am not a mother and don't have kids. I am told that young children as EXTREMELY time consuming, especially when there is more than one of them. IME, "spirituality" isn't so much about "what you do" as it is "how you do it".

Its important to have alone time, social time, and time to just recharge. Finding those when one has small children is often quite hard from what I've heard.

Are you willing to tell us what town/city/suburb/whatever you live in? You don't have to, I'm just curious. Betcha can't tell which city I live in

 

[Scott N Denver]

Go for a walk in nature. Leave your cell phone at home, take some food and water with, maybe a blanket. Find a spot that speaks to you and take your shoes off. Sit down if you want to. Let it come to you

We do have lots of nature here in Colorado

 

[Scott N Denver]

this may be beside the point, but can you clarify what you mean by "spirituality" here???

I know there are people on this forum for whom words like that have very specific meanings [say me for example] but who don't want to push something [like say what I "believe" and practice]

you did mention yoga for example, and which some people [me for example] get very into and do at the "subtler levels". but most people don't do that. so its always a gamble bringing it up...

 

[INTJ123]

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4UYBeCt3-k"][YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4UYBeCt3-k"][/YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE].

Warning the last quarter may disturb you.