Do you find that you have a split between your daily life and your spiritual life? For some people this is felt when that they lose their meditative awareness while driving or interacting with family members. For others it means after leaving church or temple (where they were inspired) , the lessons learned seem to get lost by all the daily concerns and responsibilities.

Ideally our spiritual life should be able to flow into our daily life where we can manifest love, compassion, understanding and insight. What gets in the way of this and blocks us? Why do we lose the inspiration and love we felt and find ourselves back in negative emotions and old responses?

This is something important to observe for yourself to see how you lose the elevation you once had. We get our “buttons pushed” by people and fall into old reactions and limited thinking. A way to help throughout the day is to have little quotes from your spiritual tradition on sticky posts in your car, on your desk and in your pocketbook or wallet. It isn’t easy to keep our highest aspirations alive but renewing one’s intent to make it a better world and help to uplift others can be an underlying force that helps you when you meet challenging situations and people.

Find ways to “remember” during the day. You can think of someone really suffering far worse than yourself. How big do your issues seem when you do that? Does it matter that the soccer mom says something sarcastic to you at the game? Try to keep perspective on these daily ups and downs that can rock our world and tranquility. Is it worth it to bottom out in anger or agitation over this?

If you find yourself revolving around the same type of angry reaction or feelings of grief or sadness, seeking a counselor or support group can help you to remove the old ghosts that haunt you and result in these responses. We are not free when we mechanically give an unconscious reply or rejoinder to someone. Instead we are free when we can step outside of these. Appreciate these moments outside of the box and they will grow.