“They say that it is not the soul that struggles first touched by God, but this Universe of Love which is fishing for us.” --- Sophy Burnam

In most lives, there is a sense of striving, of longing for something, a sense of incompleteness. People try to fill the need with relationships, money, sex, power, busyness, business, chaos, confusion, clutter, food, alcohol, drugs, or any other addiction that makes the longing go away for a brief time. This tail-chasing is often like running around in the circle surrounding a hole in order to avoid falling in the hole. Sometimes we are avoiding what we might find by going deeper into ourselves.

How about starting at the very inner core, with your spirit, to become fit? Learning how to feel the fullness of your own spirit, rather than stifle it by society’s programming about who you should be, may end the hunger by filling it with inner peace. Peace does not separate us from our goals, but allows us to get in touch with who we truly are, and to attain our goals in a way that is right for us. Peace allows us to heal and become empowered in a true sense. Spiritual Fitness can guide you toward a fulfilling, enriching life for the duration, not just while you break an addiction, do aerobics, spice up a love life, or heal a broken heart.

When we truly find our connection with our spirit, we might not be completely cured of our need to run and hide, and our lives will certainly not be perfect, but we will be well on our way to working through and understanding what we are running from, and what other possibilities exist. It is kind of like polishing the facets of a diamond. The more we work at it, the more facets we have and the more brightly we can shine. The more we recognize our spirituality, the more we polish our facets. Our connection with our spirit is the only thing we can never lose. It already exists, waiting for us to discover it.

Often, our longing for things is unconsciously connected with the longing to be closer to our own spirituality. By beginning to follow our spiritual purpose, we begin to release the incompleteness we feel and the need for substitutions subsides. Once this gap is filled with our sense of spirit, a sense of inner peace takes over replacing the need to fill what used to be an empty hole. We are then on the spiritual path, so to speak.

In examining your longing, part of you may be asking, “What is my life or soul purpose in being here?” and, “How do I fulfill that purpose?” These are important questions and the search for answers generally moves us in the right direction – toward the discovery of our life plan. While there may be a sense of frustration that comes from longing in a personal sense, each step that your awakened spirit takes on the path moves you further toward the fulfillment of your purpose. Follow your instincts, for they are what brought you to this book.