Spiritually Responsible Living
by Steven Morrison 

J is hoping for a promotion.  She’s been at her company for close to 12 years (almost 75% of employees at her company have been there less than 12 years) and she has been in her industry for about 15 years.  There are five other people who do what she does – at about the same level – and it’s her contention that it’s her turn and the fair thing would be for her to get the promotion.  Her boss, she says, is playing her cards close to her vest, so while J awaits a decision by “the powers that be,” she is thinking about the raise she hopes will come with the new job and what she will do with it. 

When I asked her if she wanted to do a bit of a Spiritual Workout (the name of my class) on her job situation, she said, “Yes, sure!”  Not knowing what she was getting herself into, J talked to me about what was going on and off we went applying the fifteen contemporary, non-religious, religion-friendly, universally spiritual concepts I work with and applying them to her life at work.  The very first thing I asked J was what she desired for herself in terms of her career.  Intentions matter.  My reasoning for beginning here was my sense that she felt she had zero control over anything that was happening; biding her time while others made decisions based on criteria which she was pretty much in the dark.

The idea here is how the law of attraction governs us all, which means it is always working, always on.  We will get what we think about, whether or not we’re paying attention to what we’re thinking about.  The opportunity, then, is to consciously engage it, starting with our intentions (goals, desires) and beliefs (thoughts) – making sure we aren’t harboring any beliefs that run counter to our desire.  One of  J’s basic beliefs – uncovered as we talked more – was that her career path was up to her bosses, not her.  That is why she didn’t have much of a vision for her own career – because of the belief she harbored that it wasn’t up to her.  Yikes!

So a long and tortured discussion ensued about what it was J desired for her career.  I say tortured because she had so many beliefs that prevented her from even dreaming about the ideal, perfect job and career.  That’s why she was where she was, hoping for things to be different.  I asked, “What do you want?”  “What would your ideal job or career be if money was no object and nobody could say no?”  “What’s your dream?”  That’s the intention part – to be able to dream/imagine/visualize (whatever word you care to use).  However, she couldn’t even do that because of other beliefs she had such as:  My career path is up to my boss.  Most jobs suck.  I can only ever earn so much.  I trust you can see from this why J was biding her time.  Beliefs matter because they inform our experiences and so J was waiting and hoping as a direct result of her beliefs.

That’s fine, if that’s what she wants.  No judgment here.  However, as we talked more, she made it clear that she really did want something more.  She did want to feel happy when she went to work.  She did want to feel excited when she got up in the morning.  She did want a salary that could afford her things she didn’t have now.  She did want to learn and grow through her work.

At this point, J had the making of an intention for her career.  With the new thoughts she had about her career, she could begin to consciously engage the law of attraction by giving time and attention to them – the new ones – on purpose – instead of unconsciously putting out to the Universe the thoughts and beliefs she used to harbor.  J felt energized by our discussion, which I pointed out was a form of listening to inspiration.  She felt good!  J was finished with her first Spiritual Workout and left considering how, with her newfound intention, she would need to take responsibility for taking actions that support it.  It’s called a workout for a reason!

Steven Morrison can be reached at Idyllwild Healing Arts.