8 Ways You Are Sabotaging Your Spiritual Growth.

Do you assume the spiritual awakening is a flash of consciousness, a blissful one-time moment of awareness? Once it clicks, every experience leaves you unbothered?

If that is your belief, read on.

You might be in for a treat of a great awakening.

We tend to assess spirituality through our analytical minds. No wonder. We have been programmed that way from the very beginning. But spiritual practices cannot be limited to our rational thoughts. We need to let go of the control, give in to trust, and enjoy the ride.

Are you unconsciously thwarting your efforts of the spiritual journey?

See if you check one or more of the boxes below:

#1. You are quick to criticize.

Whenever somebody voices a contrasting viewpoint, instead of appreciating the diversity, you are eager to judge.

With any judgment comes the feeling of inferiority. We criticize because we feel less than others. We need to justify our conflicting opinion, usually reinforced by anger.

Judgments cloud your vision of freedom. Whenever you focus on the choices and opinions of others, you deprive yourself of the clarity to evaluate your feelings.

I was also alarmed at the thought of being criticized, and it prevented me from following my passions and what I truly wanted to pursue.

Why should we always pinpoint any mistakes? Why does there always have to be a good side and an evil side? Can it be simply a good intention that did not go the way it was planned? Just that.

No need for judgment.

And where is no judgment, unconditional love can be born.

#2. You compare yourself to others.

In addition to criticizing others' points of view, we also adopt a habit of comparing our efforts with people's achievements.

You have your own goals to accomplish. You will not be able to pursue them by being engaged in the experiences of others.

By participating in this highly destructive habit, we become our worst enemies, blocking our pure potential.

Everyone has their own path one has to discover and stroll along. Whenever you try to copy somebody else, you are stifling your authenticity.

You were meant to face challenges specifically designed for you to blossom into the unique projection of your world.

Honor yourself.

Let go of the need to measure up to somebody else's expectations.

Everyone has a different vision and definition of success. Choose what feels good to you. Reflecting your soul's purpose. Stick by your truth, even if others don't support it.

#3. You fear loss.

Are you afraid of becoming too attached to the person, to the way of living, to the routine? All those misconceptions stem from the fear of losing one's freedom or experiencing failure.

There is no such thing in life as "failure". The word should even not exist in our mental vocabulary.

If it had not been for listening to my intuition, I would never give up my job to follow the call of freedom. Nobody will come up to you on the street yelling: "Quit that lifestyle which makes you so miserable!". I had to experience it on my own until I finally had enough.

I was afraid of facing my fears, giving up my identity, losing my face.

I owned up to confronting my family and the comfortable life I have lost myself in. What an irony. I was dreading giving up my freedom when, as it turned out, I did not have any.

Your greatest breakthroughs in perception, come with failures.

#4. You participate in the game of pretending.

You became the master of disguise. You excel at pretending to embody the person everyone wished for you to become. The polite one. The fun one. The smart one.

There is nothing smart about your attitude.

You take away permission to discover what you feel good at. Do you allow yourself to mold your interests according to the preferences of your family and friends? Do you dare to stand up for your insecurities, even if you were to fail? 

If you do, you are not alone. I have been there and done that as well. I have coined a belief that I should be loving and accepting towards every occurrence in my life.

It was a struggle. It felt suffocating. I was not living, merely floating.

I want to have a voice. I like having strong opinions.

 Eventually, I embraced my opinionated, slightly judgmental side.

Although, I am not obnoxious about it.

Maybe that is what spirituality is all about, accepting all the packages without forcing to change anything, letting it organically evolve. So it bugs people. Who cares? I am not responsible for their emotions and judgment. Whatever approach may I exercise, still some people are not going to like it.

#5. You lack boundaries.

Do you allow people to step into your sacred space without honoring it? I have experienced it with my family, co-workers, and romantic relationships.

I felt obligated to explain my actions, reasons behind saying no.

People-pleasing tendencies were gradually blurring the lines of my authentic frame. I also believe this is my biggest lesson to experience in this lifetime: standing up for myself with love.

You will never be able to enjoy the deliciousness of true freedom until you release the need to please others and welcome the desire to please yourself first.

Your new mantra? Whenever you are uncomfortable with any proposition or meeting: "I am not feeling it. It does not align with who I am. Respect my choices."

#6. You fear desire.

Somewhere along my self-discovery journey, I have come across the notion of "letting go of the desire". As a result, I stayed away from wanting things. Suddenly, desire represented the root of all evil, the opposition of any spiritual growth.

I believed that wanting something declared I was not satisfied with being enough, having enough.

I failed to realize desire is just another mean of expressing oneself.

Doesn't the fear of desire suggests a lack of confidence in our capabilities? Once we believe we deserve the best, we have the courage to dream bigger.

We tend to condemn materialistic pursuits, extravagant dreams. We criticize ourselves as well as others for wanting more.

When, in fact, spirituality is about unconditional tolerance. Nowadays, I accept various approaches to life. I no longer fear desire, as I have embraced it as my expressive nature. Through passions, I get to create. I get to dream. I get to be motivated every morning. I am constantly grateful for what I already have and not afraid to greet my new potential when asking for newly born preferences.

I desire constant expansion of my perception. I desire growth.

After all, we all want changes, but we don't admit it for fear of not being able to fail.

#7. You don't feel worthy. 

Do you like yourself? 

How do you see yourself?

I deemed myself a coward.

I lacked the belief in making whatever I wanted to happen. I did not consider myself of being worthy enough of love, of standing up for myself.

And how you treat yourself will always be reflected in others. People approach us the way we trained them and allowed them to treat us.

Everything starts with and how you treat yourself and feel about yourself.

Be bold enough to feel worthy. Worthy of love. Worthy of growth. Worthy of changes.

You truly deserve all the best.

#8. You are impatient.

Many consider awakening as a destination. When in fact, it is the continuous process of life, a never-ending journey.

Don't forget to have fun along the way. Fixating on the best outcome deprives you of childish joy and attention to detail. Don't take your journey seriously. Don't even take yourself seriously.

Make mistakes. Learn from them. Play the fool. Make others laugh. Most importantly, cherish every step of your majestic adventure called life.

Awakening is the whole package, not the glam of a finished product.

Meditate on your evolution so far. How has your perception changed since last year? You are always making progress. You are constantly growing. Be affectionate with your harvest.

There is always more.

When you think that your self-growth has just reached its peak, you should remember it can only exceed your expectations.

Because the better it gets, the better it gets.

The momentum is rolling. More expansion. More experiences. More satisfaction. More fun.

Not every journey needs to be physical.

For some, the milestone turns out to be the spiritual journey in the deep sanctuaries of the soul, which gifts us with the monumental change of mindset.