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(Spiritually) Healthy, Wealthy and Wise…

“Come on, Alisha! Up.” Her mom’s commanding voice penetrated her ears and she moaned.

“Mom, please… It's the weekend. Just today.” She rolled away, pulling her quilt over her head, as if that could block out her mom’s frown.

Her mom tugged on the quilt. “I know it’s difficult now, sweetheart. But you’ll be thanking me for it, one day. You’ll see. Up now.” She gave the quilt another firm tug and it jerked back from Alisha’s face.

Alisha huffed, slowly sitting up. Every morning since she could remember, her mom had taken her to the neighbourhood swimming pool. She’d be woken up at 5:00 AM and they’d be at the pool by 5:30 AM.

Alisha would swim laps for an hour before coming back home, showering and leaving for school at 7:30 AM.

She’d been going to the pool since she was five. She was 17 now.

And except for the few occasions when they had traveled on vacation, she had never missed a single day.

Lately though, with school and her senior-year exams looming, her late nights were catching up. She found it a struggle to wake up. Her mom just didn’t seem to understand.

“I know you think I don’t get it, Alisha,” she said calmly, every time Alisha argued. “But trust me. This is not about the swimming alone. You are building a discipline for yourself. You are honouring a commitment and keeping a word to yourself. This is not just about your physical health either. It’s about your spiritual health.”


Alisha scoffed. “What?”

Her mom smiled. “You spend endless hours on that phone of yours. Why don’t you make it useful and look up the spiritual health definition tonight?”

Alisha rolled her eyes and walked out. Curiosity got the better of her, however, and that night, she’d searched on Google.

Her eyes widened as she scrolled through page after page of results.

8 Signs You Are Spiritually Awakened…

5 Ways to Bolster Your Spiritual Health

Why Spiritual Awakening Matters

What is Spiritual Health? An Introduction to Spirituality

She clicked on the last link, intrigued, and let herself be led into a spirituality wormhole.

What is Spiritual Awakening? The Truth You Didn’t Know…

6 Signs of Kundalini Awakening

The Special Powers of the Spiritual Path

Meditation: The Good, Bad and the Ugly

She read late into the night, sucked into a world she didn’t know had existed.

When her alarm went off the next morning, she groaned. But something had shifted within. Today, waking up didn’t seem such a chore.

It felt… exciting.

Like what was doing wasn’t merely swimming. It felt like she was building to something greater, something more fulfilling, something bigger than her tiny existence.

Swimming was but a means to an end.

It was what her mom had worked to instill in her, it was why she was so firm about following the routine, no matter what.

Because bonds are built through consistency and investment – of time, energy and love. Especially bonds of the Divine.

Her mom wasn’t just showing her the path of discipline. She was showing her the ultimate path – the path of the Divine.

The instant Alisha understood this, her life changed.

She was living the same life, of course, but her whole world had transformed within.

That’s what awakening did. It shifted everything internally until the same mundane life one had been living seemed unbearably beautiful and joyous.

And it was also the beginning of her journey to God.

To be continued…
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