4 Good Reasons to Live a Spiritual Life

Do you remember when you learned that you are made up of atoms formed in stars? Did it strike you as significant? Or did you think: 'oh we're made up of atoms formed in stars, so what?'

… So What?! We are literally stardust! Sparks of the first big bonfire, or as Carl Sagan put it ‘we are a way for the universe to know itself’.

If you, like me, are a bit awed and impressed to be participating in the cosmos in this way, then you might have a spiritual attitude. I mean, it's a miracle that stardust can come together and evolve in such complex ways. The word 'miracle' may have religious undertones, but what if spirituality doesn’t have to imply religion?

Here are 4 reasons to live a spiritual life, none of which imply religious belief:

1) Viewing life as a gift

Gratitude is literally proven to increase happiness, just like complaining increases dissatisfaction. If everyday you wake up and look for the blessings, you will find they are plentiful.

In this day an age, it is easy to perceive the world as bleak and meaningless. This is a projection of the concrete and pettiness surrounding us. We look at the world and find it befouled by greed, governed by people with full pockets and empty hearts.

It doesn’t have to be like that.

If you can get far enough away from the city light to see it, there’s a vast ocean of twinkling suns above us. No concrete or greed can ever touch that. I say, project that unto the world instead, the infinite beauty in everything. In the words of William Blake: “See the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.”

That beauty is everywhere to remind us that life is no mere inconvenience, it is a gift. We are better off remembering that.

2) Taking responsibility for our choices

A virtuous life is a good life. Ancient philosophers had it right. I can’t think of anything Aristotle was wrong about if interpreted a certain way. Be moral, not because some deity will punish your unethical behaviour, but because you will reap the rewards for your good acts, in this life!

Sacrifice! Sacrifice shallow pleasures today, and you will thank yourself tomorrow. Sacrifice your time to hard work and spiritual pursuits, it is worth it.

3) One's life will be structured by traditions and customs, with a regular focus on moral and spiritual awareness.

Customs and traditions do not necessarily entail going to church or participating in worship. It could be simply gathering your family for a meal, giving thanks to whoever provided a meal (even if you don't think your creator had anything to do with it).

4) A spiritual life is a life full of love. Not love of power or wealth, but love of other people, the world and creation itself.

The reason, I think, that so many people completely write off spirituality, is because it's usually linked with religion. And religion has been so abused throughout history by people not living spiritual lives at all. Women under Taliban rule, for example, were oppressed by people hungry for power, not love. They used religion as a tool to maintain power, and there's nothing spiritual about that.

This is no wager with a deity. Spirituality is not religion. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain if we postulate that there is value and meaning in a spiritual life. You'll live a better life, a happier life, a more fulfilled life. You're better off getting up each morning grateful to be alive, resolved to making good moral choices, aware of your spiritual condition, and ready to love rather than conquer.