Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.

What are your spiritual practices?

I know many of the members here have some regular spiritual practice; often that's on people's daily check-in lists.

I am a regular churchgoer (two different churches, actually -- my own UU church and my wife's Christian church) and find both to be meaningful and welcoming places for my very loose, vague, quasi-Christian, quasi-Buddhist, relatively uninformed liberal theology.

But I don't have any kind of personal spiritual practice that I devote time to every day. I'm interested in finding one but I have no idea where to start.

So I'm curious: Those of you who have one, what do you do?

GeorgeSmiley...

Sequel: What I'm going to try to do...

I really appreciate everyone's response.

In a way, my dithering on this is a form of procrastination, and comes from the same source that leads me to procrastinate on other things: I'm so obsessed with doing it "right" the first time that I use that as an excuse not to do anything at all.

So I've decided I'm going to just plunge in and try something, anything.

For me this will be reading short passages daily, from any and all traditions that offer some meaning. Right now I'm reading a book by the Buddhist mont Thich Nhat Hanh. I'll just read one short passage a day, spend some quiet time thinking about it, and use that to start my work day. 

Thanks again for everyone's feedback.

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.

re:sequel

Thanks for the question.  I didn't really realize I had a spiritual practice until you asked  8)
"For myself, I am an optimist--it does not seem to be much use being anything else."- Winston Churchill

Agnus: Dei

My spiritual practices reflect my addictive personality: creative, emotional, inconsistent, prone to excess, constantly seeking MORE!  Most days I pray before my head leaves the pillow, at least to say thanks for a new day and please help me not screw it up. Then after I am more awake, I try whatever spiritual exercises seem right to me at the time. Some days I get on my knees, other times I dance to spiritual music, sometimes I sit and read/think/pray. Occasionally I run out the door forgetting to pray until I am in the car.

I LOVE to worship, anytime, any style. J's personality is my polar opposite so together we attend the nearby moderate Anglican, Roman Catholic or Methodist churches on weekends. When alone, I seek out the really vibrant "experiential" churches: youth-oriented charismatic, African, Pentecostal, etc. I also belong to a Native American sweat lodge but it is too far away, sadly. My all-time favorite worship service was a very religious Orthodox Jewish wedding: goosebumps!

For my PA recovery, I ask HP (almost) every morning for honesty, open-mindedness and willingness - "H.O.W" it works - and to direct my thinking as I consider my plans for the day...important because thinking about the past or the future is a major procras-trap for me.  I try to follow the AA "Big Book" - scroll down to pages 86-87: http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_bigbook_chapt6.pdf 

Starting spiritual stuff

I should add that when I first began actually trying to interact with Higher Power, it was simply to get quiet and say: "To Whom It May Concern, Whoever You Are helping these other people with their problems, will you please help me too?  I really need help. I'll notice and thank you for whatever help you can give me. Amen."

That's still the basis of my spirituality: I need. I ask. God helps (often through His friends!). I thank. God smiles. I feel good, and pass it on. 

"To whom it may concern..."

 I like that...

It's also the punch line to an old joke that us Unitarians tell about ourselves:

"How do UUs address God?"

:-)

 

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.

spirituall-e

As a child my family was very actively involved with both religion and the act of doing good as part of that faith. As an adult I fell off in my attendance, but retained the core of faith that I was raised with. However, it was not until I came to 12 step programs that I began to truly understand what spirituality was. In going to meetings, out of the mouths of strangers I heard powerful words of sorrow, hope, resurrection and joy. For me, little is as spiritual as attending a meeting or working the 12 steps.

Finding time can be hard...

I use my driving time each day to spend some time with God. This seems to be a good way for me to prepare for my day (on the way to class in the morning), and a good way to decompress (on my way home at night). 

I chaperoned a Christian youth convention about a year ago where we listened to a speaker (I have forgotten his name, unfortunately....). The basic point of his whole speech was "God gave his only Son so that you can have eternal life with Him.....Can you afford to give God 12 minutes of your time each day?"

Even though 12 minutes may not seem like a lot, it can make a big difference. I've recently come out of a period in my life where I didn't talk to God much....I'm glad I've picked up the habit of talking to Him throughout my day again...I've really missed it. :-)

HP: some days better than others

Hi!

In the mornings, I usually ask God to go ahead of me in the day, and to help me to do the things that God wants me to do.

In 12-step programs, we try to ask God to show us the next right thing to do; throughout the day, even if I don't think that specific thought every single hour, I try to have that as my goal (one thing at a time) (hopefully prioritized ;).

Take in some kind of new knowledge or positive reinforcement several days a week, such by attending a 12-step meeting or spiritual service.

During the few weeks I have been at my new condo, I am re-establishing a habit of reading a brief spiritual reading of my choice each night (5 minutes or less). This last week, I have started following that with some stretching (& minimal light yoga) to wind down before going to sleep.

During the year I deliberately vacation and interact with people who's beliefs are different than mine. I have vacationed with Taoists for the last 6 summers; I am challenged by simplicity and moderation, and they also help me be in touch with nature and relaxation. My international friend in Singapore is a Malay Buddhist and often shares spiritual thoughts. Even though I have a specific Higher Power to which I am dedicated, God surprises me sometimes by intereacting with me through various traditions. I qigong, which is a form of Tai Chi.

My Higher Power is important to me, so I want to promote that relationship most of all. When appropriate and not conflicting with my own beliefs, I also learn from these philosophical components of these other traditions when I can, too.

Let us know how things go! :)


Recycler

Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)

I Qigong too.

I Qigong too. :)

hey Roses :)

Hi Roses!

How are you? :)

What kind of qigong do you like to do? :)

I just do beginner qigong; but hey, it works for me :)


Recycler

Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)

Rec,

Rec,
i feel at peace with myself right now, thank you.
Well, for a while i took tai chi classes every week, and we used qigong to warm up, increase flow of and centre energy. I left due to problems i had yet to identify as procrastination, but i have kept hold of the qigong.

I can't say i have a set routine of it, but i use it often enough. And yes, i don't know what the exercises are called, but they do indeed work for me. And i don't know what kind of qigong you'd call it, it could well be beginner also!

Peace to you

cool :)

Hi Roses!

Ah, we have the same story :)

Hugs to you! :)


Recycler

Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)

mindfulness and meditation

At times I've meditated on a daily basis, for just 10 minutes, although I am not doing that right now. I also have a small pile of religious/spiritual books that I leaf through at random for inspiration.

The adrenaline you've been living on only leaves you wanting.

about spiritual practice

so i started writing a response, and it got long, and i started to wonder about how much of this very personal issue i want to share w/ y'all and have available that anyone in the world might drop by.

so i'll give the short version:

first, the best advice i've received on this is this: the goal is god, and god alone. This has proved to me to be very hard to remember, because so much peace, love, joy, hope & truth has come from it that it's easy to mistake those fruits as the goal themselves. But those are just the fringe benefits. I have found the goal must be god, and god alone.

ok so even the short version is taking too long for what i've allocated for catching up on this site this morning. So i'll try to come back on a designated break (if i allow myself those today ;) )

re: spiritual practice

Gee, I hesitate to even answer this question because I figure my spiritual practice is pretty lame compared to some of the deeper people on this forum.  I'm not even a regular church-goer as you are.  
 
But I do take five minutes at the beginning of the day to say a prayer, give thanks for all the wonderful things in my life, and ask for help, motivation, and direction for the day, as well as asking for other stuff I think I need and want.   I try to follow that with a few minutes of meditation.  I'm fairly new to the meditation thing but it does seem to help set the tone for the day.  Sometimes I follow that with a bit of Bible reading, sometimes not.  
 
Jo 
 
"For myself, I am an optimist--it does not seem to be much use being anything else."- Winston Churchill

Same here.

doublepost

Same here.

Same here.

I used to a be an atheist. After a serious accident out in the middle of nowhere, where I wasn't prepared (it was stupid) I had an epiphany. The whole idea of the life after death being based on actions or attitude in this life would seemingly precudle knowledge of the next life prior to death. In other words, if religion were a scientifically provable thing (something which most atheists demand) then everything we do with respect to it would be entirely out of self interest. As it is, even deeply religious people do good works and help people not because they know they will be rewarded for them, but because they have faith that it is the right thing to do.

That thought made me look at things again. I realized faith and science really are two seperate realms. Anyway, that wasn't really your question but that's how I look at it.

 
Oh yeah, church, meditation or whatever you do, it's a good way to have set time for reflection and taking stock. Also a good place to chat with people or get into voulenteering (Luthern here). 

 

Nothing lame about that answer at all, Jo... Thank you...

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.