In 2012, we were organizing a conference in Moscow. The people who came there were sharing how many years they had been in spiritual practices. At that time, I was a staunch materialist, I didn’t believe in anything at all.
But when the conversation turned to results: “Show us what you’ve actually achieved in life,” that’s where the sadness came in.
Because people practice for decades, do various practices and meditations, yet nothing changes in their lives.
What kind of achievements are we talking about in this article? These are not the results that society or the social circle considers important and necessary. It’s not about external results, but about your inner growth and your inner changes that allow you to be happy, harmonious, and fulfilled.
External Achievements & Inner Victories
If you don’t have a bank account, if you don’t hold a certain position, if you don’t have a prestigious job, an apartment, and so on, from society’s point of view, you’re probably a failure.
But if you truly apply spiritual practices in your life, and not just listen and/or meditate, then you should feel changes. And one way or another, this should affect your external life and your relationships with people.
Internally, how happy do you feel? What have you learned to allow yourself, how do you treat yourself?
I’ve been living in a more or less reclusive state for many years now. But I’ve learned the joy of life from simple things, bringing color back into my life, that feeling of being happy.
The ability to disconnect from all this chaos has appeared, no matter what problems pile up on you. And despite all that, you can very sincerely enjoy, for example, the sun, the sunrise, the sunset. I’m talking about results like these.
See also Spiritual Practices as a Way of Life, or How to Follow Life Principles
The Brag Practice
We often start accompanying webinars for clients with the “Brag” practice, where participants share their achievements for the current month. Again, what kind of achievements are these? Far from always being external successes in the usual sense.
These are achievements where you reclaim a piece of yourself:
- stood up for personal boundaries where you couldn’t before,
- didn’t react in the usual way when someone pushed your red button,
- maintained balance where you would have fallen before, and so on.
Praise yourself! From society’s point of view, this is nothing, it’s not an achievement, but on the inner scales, these changes that are happening to you need to be noted for yourself.
After all, it’s not for nothing they say: “If you don’t praise yourself, no one else will.” It’s not about bragging, and it’s not about telling someone else. The point is for you to notice it and acknowledge it for yourself: “Yes, this is here.”
Don’t live looking over your shoulder at other people; it means nothing to them. Often, even close ones don’t understand what you’re talking about. Learn to celebrate what is, and to see your own value, your small victories and achievements.
Learn to see the overall trend: you’ve become calmer, more harmonious, more balanced, you nag your husband less, for example, and make fewer complaints. That is already such a significant result of everything we do.
See also How Life Changes Through Spiritual Practices
Stories from the lives of our readers and clients.
If you have experienced a crisis, don’t forget to find pearls of wisdom over time. What was with you Before, what you were like during the process, and, most importantly, what changed after.
There are pearls of wisdom in absolutely any situation. Until you see them, the lesson can be considered unlearned. And after all, you want to finalize them, go through them, and move on.
What results do you see in yourself? Not from society’s perspective, how it was, but achievements on the spiritual path, human ones? Is there anything to praise yourself for? Share in the comments!
A fragment from one of the accompanying webinars for clients of the Keys of Mastery Center
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