Jennifer T. Grainger

Duty, Obligation and Commitment: Stepping Stones or Stumbling Blocks to Spiritual Awakening?

If you think fulfilling a duty, satisfying an obligation or keeping an outdated commitment makes you a "good person," think again. It makes you a compliant person whose life is governed by the people in your life. This makes it very hard for your soul to fulfill its mission and purpose.

If you have been reading Eckhardt Tolle's books, The Power of Now, and The New Earth, you know that the most important task for humanity right now is to expand consciousness. If you got excited by Eckhardt's books it means you are already in the process of "waking up." The more consciously aware you are, the more JOY and the less struggle you can experience in your everyday life.

There are 3 old paradigm values that present major obstacles to becoming conscious:

- duty: allowing someone else's idea or belief about what you must do to be "worthy" be a guiding principle in your life

- obligation: allowing someone else to determine what you "owe" them in order to be acceptable

- commitment: ignoring spiritual guidance that tells you to take a new direction in favor of adhering to an agreement without recourse to renegotiation. It helps to hold the principle that if something is not right for you, it is not right for the other person. It takes courage to be the first one to say "this isn't working for me."

These values had great validity in the old paradigm, when "all for one and one for all" created a cohesive unit to thwart the vagaries of nature and marauding neighbors. As we transition into the new paradigm, becoming conscious and becoming your authentic self is critical.

How can these 3 foundational values of the old paradigm be detrimental to your spiritual growth?

Simple. They block your connection to your inner wisdom and sabotage your soul's purpose. You can't be inner-directed and outer-directed at the same time. You cannot give authority to other's beliefs about what you are supposed to do and be, while at the same time allowing Spirit to manifest in the world through you. This is like driving with your foot on the gas and the brake at the same time!

There are 3 solutions to these obstacles:

- discover who you really are

- develop your intuition

- follow your heart

And therein lies the spiritual growth journey.

Changing your mind about what it means to be a "good person" becomes easier when you immerse yourself in "new paradigm" thinking. Reading inspirational books, participating in spiritual growth classes and workshops, developing a meditation practice to sharpen your ability to hear the whispers of spirit guiding you, all support you in making the transition into the new paradigm.

Select one of the solutions outlined above: discover who you really are, develop your intuition, or follow your heart. Set your intention to fully explore that concept. Read books, take classes, talk with like-hearted people. Observe and evaluate, without judgment, the results. This is your life to live, no one else's. Have the courage to take the road less traveled and let your soul be your guide.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR