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Developing these spiritual assets can improve almost every moment of life. As we gain in strength, we feel more presentable to God and our fellow human beings. We feel more fit to lovingly obey God's will, and fulfill our personal spiritual mission on earth.
Spiritual/mental strength
Active, creative, disciplined living -- such as is provided by a program of conscious spiritual exercise -- is STRONG living. Passive living is comparatively weak. When we live passively -- merely coping with our circumstances and responding to life events, not taking initiative to change our patterns -- we leave ourselves vulnerable to our lower patterns of thought. We might coast along in a pretty good state for a day or so, but when challenged, we are likely to crumble.
When we begin to exercise our spiritual muscles, we feel stronger almost immediately, and we continue to feel strong as long as we exercise. We can walk through life with our head held high, confident that the momentum of our new patterns of bold, creative action will keep us on track and help us face life's challenges head on.
Consistency
Among the many benefits of conscious spiritual exercise, there is a special value in STRUCTURED activity. In order to be responsible, reliable, and loving people, we MUST be able to control our minds and consciously direct our actions. This is how we become reliable participants on God's team.
When we engage in consistent practice even while experiencing varying moods and life events, we exercise the spiritual muscles that allow us to be reliable. We practice holding and manifesting our positive intentions under many DIFFERENT circumstances. We also learn to change our mood when we feel low. Gradually, we become the masters of our thoughts and our behavior. Only then can we be reliably good for both ourselves and others.
Inspiration
None of us want to be a hypocrite -- a person who believes one way and behaves another. Self-respect grows as we actively express our sincerely held spiritual values in our daily life. But the benefits of applying our spiritual values in life extend much further. Invariably, living spiritual PRACTICE puts fresh spirit wind in our sails. To the extent that we LIVE what we know, and bring our spiritual ideals to life, we not only feel relieved of the guilt of inaction and the shadow of hypocrisy -- we feel empowered, delighted, and excited! We feel closer to our (true) selves, to our fellow man, and to God.
Understanding
Living implementation is essential to understanding. How can anyone truly understand anything apart from EXPERIENCE with it? We learn, in large part, by DOING. This is as true of spiritual life as every other area of life.
In Bloom practice, learning and understanding are furthered not only by the repeated experience of doing the practice items themselves, but also by spiritual wisdom provided in the form of item descriptions and instructions.
Awareness
Conscious spiritual exercise, using Bloom, improves awareness in several ways:
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