“All of the events that unravel in your life, whether good or bad, are guiding pathways that are leading you towards the light. That light is from God, the All-Omniscient, All-Knowing, Utterly Just, Most loving and Ever-living. It is only through God that one can find true peace and happiness.”
(Rayan Shatnawi)
Have you ever felt lost? That feeling where you are simply floating about your day, detached from reality and all that surrounds you, in a cycle of depression, unable to break out of your mind, as if you are frozen in time. That feeling where your heart seems numb, when nothing ever satisfies you anymore, where you are searching for a will to carry on, for a higher purpose and cannot find it anywhere. Investing time and effort into your spiritual health is the best solution for calming your mind and breathing life back into your heart, which will give you a new sense of clarity and drive to thrive and grow.
In this technologically driven time and society, where indulging in distractions, enjoying harmful addictions, neglecting our spiritual health as well as damaging our minds thoughtlessly through the excessive consumption of media and our careless attitude towards life in general has caused us to detach from reality and what truly matters. However, this can and will be changed by achieving true peace and happiness only through one’s connection to God, where your state of mind can finally be grounded and calm with a grateful heart and flourishing soul.
THE REASONS BEHIND OUR DISCONNECTION FROM OUR HIGHER POWER
The media we consume, the music we listen to, the food we eat, the people we surround ourselves with, and the advice we follow are all influential forces diverting us and disconnecting us from God.
Most music is quite appealing and captivating, so we tend to get drawn to its lyrics and rhythm without thinking twice about the words we are listening to and its effects on our heart and mind. Did you know that listening to most music has been proven to lower your vibration, decrease your mood and subconsciously rewire your mind into a negative state. According to a study completed by professors at the Iowa State Univeristy in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2003), most music provokes destructive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours {Exposure to Violent Media: The Effects of Songs with Violent Lyrics on Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings}. In an experiment of 75 females and 70 males, the individuals who listened to a violent song were proven to display aggressive feelings and behaviours than those who did not listen to it.
In addition to this, a study completed by Dr Sandra Garrido (2016) proved that clinically depressed individuals were found to feel worse after listening to sad songs in comparison to those who did not, highlighting that music does have a major impact on our state of mind, thought processes and emotions {Sad Music and Depression: Does it help?}. Thus, selecting wisely what listen to and follow on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis will help us break out of the habit of harming our brain and actions, which will also definitely bring us a step closer to connecting with God on a peaceful and more nurturing level.
Moreover, the use of social media is another detriment to our spiritual health that disconnects us from God. Most individuals reveal a false sense of reality on their social media platforms, reflecting a superficial idea of what others may like, which does so much more damage to the human mind than one may even realise. Social media has been recognised to lower an individual’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ), cause depression, an altered sense of self and a detachment from reality as it is mainly a distraction from what really matters in life. We are far too consumed in stressing about how others may view us to the point that we forget to worry about how the one who created all of us perceives us, and it is only His judgement that truly matters. Therefore, social media is yet another diversion and damaging outlet that disallows us from connecting to God and finding peace and happiness through Him.
TIPS TO HELP YOU REMEMBER & CONNECT WITH GOD THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY
From a young age, we were usually taught about God, religion, and the difference between good and evil, yet were we ever taught about why we need to connect to God? Were we ever taught about the benefits of connecting with God? The answer to these questions is mostly no.
Instead of focusing on the misconceptions of the “authoritative nature of God and religion” that are falsely spread around the world, shift your mindset to building a relationship with God which will ultimately allow you to become a better, happier, healthier, and more peaceful person through this connection.
Developing a relationship with your creator is more crucial than developing a relationship with anyone else. If our relationship with God is distorted, then this will eventually spread and seep into our relationships with others and the world around us, since the core relationship with our creator is unsteady and absent. One should build their relationship with God on love, trust, and respect, whilst following God’s truth. Below are some tips to help and inspire you to connect with God.
1. Talk to Your Higher Power
Talk to God when you feel down, when you feel like giving up, when you are grateful, when you are driving, when you are cooking, when you are about to fall asleep, when you are out walking in nature, and when you are meditating. These are the most perfect times to connect with God. When you are alone and have finally found some downtime, instead of listening to music or occupying yourself scrolling for hours on social media, you can instead, communicate with God.
Talk to God about all that is on your mind, complain to Him about your issues, all the moments that overwhelm you, your heartaches, all the things that you are grateful for, all the things that you desire and be assured that He does listen and is the Most Generous. God is the Most Loving, the Provider, the Opener, the Gentlest, the Trustee, the Satisfier of Needs, the Most Powerful, and the Only One who is with you at your lowest and at highest moments. He is there for you whenever you need him and whenever you don’t, so remember to speak to him throughout your day. After all, he is the one who fashioned you and knows you best.
2. Pray
We spend so much time focusing on work, cleaning, cooking, scrolling through our social media feeds, reading, spending time with our family and friends, that we forget to make time for the one who loves us the most, the one who created us and the one who gives us all that we have, yet we do not thank Him and rarely pray to Him. We, as humans, have become extremely desensitised to our true purpose on earth, and what we were created for. We are far too consumed with the materialistic aspects of this world and all the things that offer us temporary pleasure, yet our internal state is in dire need of attention and care.
Praying, meditating, communicating, and taking time out of our day to have a few moments with God is what breathes life back into our hearts. Praying is what gives us purpose, is what heals our aches, is what remedies our pains, is what we need to succeed in every aspect of our life, because a livelihood without the blessing of God is a life that is empty. Praying regenerates your soul and motivates you under the light of God.
3. Give Charity
If God has blessed you with money and wealth, then give a portion of it to charity. Not only will it soften your heart, but it will also open doors of abundance in your life, as those who give to the less fortunate are the best of humanity in the presence of God. Giving charity to the poor, the homeless, orphans and those who are struggling is the best form of gratefulness to your Lord as you are sharing from what He has bestowed upon you. Charity does not only involve giving money to the less fortunate, but it also includes distributing food for free, helping others with pure intentions and could be as simple as smiling, which will in turn make someone else’s day a little better.
4. Be Kind
Whether it be having a nice conversation with your neighbour, asking someone if they are okay, giving helpful advice to others, or even cleaning the environment, any small act of kindness is worth so much more than it truly is. Sometimes it could be the smallest act that saves someone’s life, makes their day so much better, or helps the world in some way, but nonetheless being a nice human doesn’t cost a thing and will not make you any less. In fact, being kind will fill your heart up with genuine peace and happiness and connect you with God in more than one way. God loves those who give and treat others with kindness no matter the age, ethnicity, religion, characteristics, or person. Treat everyone how you would like to be treated because God is Utterly Just and will reimburse you in one way or another, what you serve every individual you cross and the world around you.
If you have nothing nice to say or add into the world, then say nothing at all because you will be damaging someone’s mind, emotions, and future in multiple ways when you spread unnecessary hate and negativity into their life. Something that I have recently learnt from years of my life dealing with all kinds of people, is that serving hate with hate is useless and destructive, that is why you must leave it up to God to deal with the other person’s evil intentions and actions towards you, for God is the Most Just.
Being negative towards yourself and others will only lead you down a rabbit hole of misery whether now or in the future, so be wise what you say and how you treat others because we all belong to God, and He is the All-Knowing of what we do and what we say. Being a kind person will raise you up in God’s view and give you the most beautiful sense of peace and happiness.
In my opinion, one of the easiest yet most effective ways of connecting with God is increasing your knowledge about Him and everything that originates from Him. This could be through reading sacred text, watching related videos, and educating yourself with spirituality books that will help you connect with God and fill you up with peace.
THE BENEFITS OF REMEMBERING & CONNECTING WITH GOD
By talking to God, praying, giving to charity, being kind, and increasing your knowledge about Him, you will see your whole life transform into a blessed, abundant, happy, peaceful, and serene existence.
Connecting with God builds confidence inside of us as we are surrendering and fully trusting in God to solve our stresses, release our anxieties and give us solutions to all our issues. Not only will connecting with God build confidence inside of us, but it will also give us strength and motivation to strive and do better in all aspects of our life as we are being guided by The Giver of Peace.
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