There seems to be a lot of confusion about spirituality in general. The other day I was giving my opinion and I was far from unfiltered. I was told that someone who is ‘spiritual’ doesn’t talk that way. Well, they are wrong because yes, yes, someone who is spiritual can speak that way. However, I’ll give this individual the benefit of the doubt for not really understanding what being spiritual is really about. That is because they were quite obviously under the impression that spirituality only meant being all love and light. Nothing can be farther from the truth. However, that is a topic to delve into alone which I will in the future. But for now, let’s talk about spirituality.

Being spiritual is all about acknowledging that there is a greater power than yourself. Spirituality is believing that there is more to the life you live. It is the belief that there is a much greater purpose for your life, and you may know some of your purposes. However, you are not meant to know all of them and will learn them when it is that time for you. Spirituality is believing that some things happen for a reason, and some things happen due to chaos. And being spiritual does not mean you are always going to be positive. In fact, you acknowledge there are dark and light. You acknowledge negativity around you, and you don’t have to love everyone and everything. Being spiritual does not mean you have a Pollyanna attitude and viewpoint. And if anyone really did, I would immediately believe they are covering something up.

Being spiritual also does not mean it is essential to forgive others either. Those who claim to be spiritual who tell you that you have to forgive or you will not heal are doing nothing other than gaslighting you. It is your choice to forgive and your choice to not forgive. No type of God will punish you if you don’t. Now, I absolutely agree that allowing those who have wronged you or harmed you in any way to consume your thoughts and your soul is not healthy. You can move forward and not allow your thoughts to be consumed by begrudging those who had harmed you without forgiving them.

You can also be spiritual and follow a religious path as well, or not follow a religious path. Whatever path you follow is the right one for you. Someone who is spiritual will have their opinions and has the right to have opinions. Yet at the same time, a truly spiritual person will never judge you for your own path, and the decisions you have to make that is best for you. Anyone who is truly spiritual will not judge you for the way you are living your life because life is challenging for everyone one way or another. And people really are doing the best they can. No one has the right to judge you as long as you don’t purposely harm anyone or anything, which includes yourself. Therefore, a spiritual person will respect the path that others are taking as well as where they are on their journey.

A spiritual person may be drawn to metaphysics as well as alternative ways of healing such as crystal therapy and meditation. That is a common stereotype and there is a grain of truth to it. But not all spiritual people are comfortable with divination tools such as tarot cards. Especially if they follow any type of Abrahamic religion and again that is their path and if it is right for them, then that is their truth.

Now, are you getting the idea of what being spiritual means? You can be spiritual and share unfiltered opinions (not about someone’s chosen path and decisions they have made for themselves but really about their behavior more than anything if it is disruptive or hypocritical). You can be spiritual and have a crass or dark sense of humor. You can be spiritual and struggle with mental illness such as depression. You can be spiritual and fully acknowledge that you have bad days where negativity takes over. You can be spiritual and be uncomfortably real. And no, you are not spiritual if you are a fake Pollyanna all of the time. I will talk more about that in the future.