By Verona Spence-Adofo

Walking the spiritual path can be a very enlightening experience that can bring forth much clarity, a deep sense of connection and knowledge of self. However, as I’m currently experiencing this is not just a time of kumbaya and roses. It can also be a time that brings much turbulence as you adjust and develop yourself to your new levels of understanding and responsibilities.

The ancestors and forces are always there to guide us, however, we must also put in the work. For example, if you are continually receiving signs which are providing you with messages, yet keep refusing to act on them you will find yourself experiencing similar challenges repeatedly until that lesson is learned and applied. Inactivity to spiritual guidance can literally cause yourself be “stuck” in a particular experience until you address the root cause by identifying the lesson(s) and implementing the teachings accordingly. Failing to act in these predicaments can eventually lead to feelings of hopeless, anxiety, depression or even illness as the situation often intensifies until it can no longer be ignored.

This highlights the notion that we are contributing parties to our existence and whilst we are guided and assisted by spirit we must also be active parties in our experience and work in cooperation with them. Therefore, our spiritual work cannot only exist in theory but it is essential that this wisdom is also practically applied to our lives.

The reality is our modern day existence makes it difficult to dedicate time to spiritual matters as we are often caught up in the physical world with various commitments including family and work. Trying to find the balance of all the requirements of life can be of great difficulty, however, in order to maintain spiritual balance, it is essential to make daily time to switch off the external world and focus within.

If you can relate to this predicament here are some suggestions to help…

Thank the ancestors/spirits for their assistance upon receipt of a spiritual message.

Write down any messages that are received in a place where you can easily review them.Keep the message journal as a guide for your personal development.

Identify the action points within the messages and ritualise the solutions so they become part of your daily life.

More information on useful ritual practices can be found in our documentary Spirit is Eternal