As I’ve mentioned before, your habits determine your results. Simply focusing on your habits and making the effort to change them will give you great understanding of why you get the results you do.
Sometimes, however, the result you achieve is not the point. Or, more correctly, the externally-perceived result is not the point. Sometimes the point has nothing to do with productivity or goals or any of that, and instead the desired result is an emotional state or good feeling. In this case, habits are not the tool you want to use. Instead, you want ritual.
A ritual is a series of actions or thoughts conducted with the intent of bringing your mind to a certain place. Going for a walk every morning might be a habit, but if you make a point of experiencing the walk (by enjoying the fresh air, watching the birds and insects, listening to the breeze in the leaves) then you are conducting a ritual. Having a routine you go through before bed to help you fall asleep faster is a ritual.
Ritual is a very powerful tool. The power lies in the fact that we all have a lot of junk floating around in our minds. The path to happiness is basically one of getting rid of all the junk. Rituals are a shortcut to clear away all the noise for a short while so that you can experience peace, which in turn brings happiness.
In fact, ritual can take you to any emotional space you want, not just happiness, but we’ll focus on happiness for now.
Our habits happen blindly; we are often completely unaware what exactly we are doing. Rituals, on the other hand, draw our attention to the activity and actions. By keeping us consciously aware of our purpose and intent, rituals help us connect to source, or that deeper spiritual place within (or without, depending on your specific beliefs). Ritual is the cord that plugs us in to our spirit.
Of course, many people have ‘rituals’ that are simply habits in disguise. If you perform a ritual often enough, eventually you may forget why you are doing it or even that you are doing it, at which point it is just a habit. If you used to meditate every morning and watch out the window, but eventually you got bored with the process and now you sit in front of the TV instead, you are no longer acting in ritual space. To benefit from ritual, it must be something that clears your mind rather than filling it, something you do intentionally rather than something you do ‘just because’.
How much time do you devote to clearing your mind? If you’re not sure, the answer is probably ‘none’. What rituals could you add to your free time that would help you find inner peace?
What rituals do you follow? Do you have religious rituals that you perform regularly? Personal rituals? Are they things you do alone or with others? In the morning or at night?
I’d like to hear about your rituals…
In the news
- Plastic surgery’s new marketing focus: Jealous types ‘have different-sized feet’
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- ‘Check out the stride on her!’ Your walk may reveal more than you think
Quote for the week
We don’t have too much ritual in our life anymore. And these life symbols which people rely on to keep their feeling of well being, that life is not too bad after all are required more and more. - John Hench
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
