Caution! Pontificating ahead. Proceed at your own risk.

I've been reading a lot of books lately that really hit home to me. This type of reading isn't for everyone, but I sure enjoy it. I've always thought outside of the box when it comes to spiritual matters for as long as I can remember. Many of you know that I was raised in an ultra-conservative religion, which gave me a good, solid moral compass. I will never regret the time I spent going to church, nor the lessons I learned while I was there.

I remember very clearly a day that I was sitting with my parents and family from my dad's side when I was about nine or ten, listening to them talk about religion. My parents were sharing their truths, and the other family members were sharing theirs. I piped up, "I don't believe there is just one true religion." Yup, I said that at the ripe old age of 9 or 10 (I remember what I was wearing that day, and that's how I gauge my age. )

If looks could kill, I would have been dead from the daggers being sent my way from my mother. In their religion, they believe that it's very important to do your best to bring people into their truths- so what I said was quite taboo and I got quite a 'talking to' after that. That was the last time I'd bring up my thoughts on the matter with my parents until I was about 40.

I tell that story because it shows that I've always been a free thinker in the matters of spirituality. I do believe that my parents' church is true for them and I believe that the Catholic church is true for my aunt, and so on. I absolutely love learning about other religions and how they started. I love listening to people give their testimony of their truth, even if I don't share their truth. I believe that religion DOES have a place in this world for many people, perhaps the majority. For me though, I've had a set of beliefs that go back over many years. The things I believed wouldn't be considered conventional or 'normal', so I never really talked about it because I didn't want people to think I was weird. (too late! Everyone KNOWS I'm weird!)

A couple of years before I met BJ, I started down my path to self-discovery. I've mentioned it a few times in my blog, so I won't bore you with all of it. Part of that was to read books on spirituality on Sundays- my version of church, if you will. It was amazing to me how many other people believed the same things I did, as I churned through the various authors. I felt so isolated and alone (abnormal, even) until I started reading books that literally took my breath away because of the similarities between their truth and mine. It seems that once I started reading those books and talking about them, I found more and more people who shared my beliefs. BJ is not one of those people, but he's kind enough to respect my beliefs and not mock me. I could see how easy it would be to mock me, but at this point I don't let that bother me because I'm so secure in my beliefs.

Right now I'm reading Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth". Wow, wow and WOW. Once I'm finished, I'll share my thoughts about the book and what it teaches. Other areas that I like to explore are topics about how much control you have over your reality. Notice I don't say life..

I recently ran across this; something I'd read a long time ago. I think it hits the nail on the head about controlling our reality:

Which Wolf Will Win?

An elder Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves."

"One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, jealousy and lies. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth and compassion. This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too."

The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The grandfather simply replied, “The one I feed.”

Sometimes I have to remind myself of that story- especially when I'm going into a spiral of negativity. The story is so simple yet the message is clear and undeniable.

It's so awesome to me to meet like-minded people after all these years of keeping my spiritual thoughts to myself. That's what I love about the good ol' USA, we can all believe what we want without fear of persecution. That's a privilege and not something I take lightly.