How do you complete a 3,500 piece puzzle? By doing a bit every day. You've broken it down into 'small jobs'. How do you write a book? Build a raft? Design and plant a garden? Lose weight? Learn a language? In each case it makes sense that you break the big job into small jobs. It seems less overwhelming. It was Henry Ford who said nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. Management gurus refer to it as 'chunking down'. And so you see that you can actually complete the large job in a timely fashion. But you have to stick to it every day.
In our quest to grow spiritually, to grow towards, rather than away from our soul, to allow the ego less and less prominence in our daily lives, and to focus on our inner knowing, our inner voice, or the higher self, it is no different. So yesterday you read a book, or heard a seminar, or went to a group meeting, perhaps a satsang, perhaps just a meeting where ideas were exchanged, and you felt that it hit a chord in you; you knew it was speaking to you in a way that created excitement and a vibration of something so totally new, yet so totally familiar, that you want to go there, and go all the way. But then you see how you fall absolutely short. You step back in dismay. You realize how far you still are from the goal. You may never reach it.
Yet that is precisely where this idea of small jobs leading to the divine comes into the picture. Use all those little upsets, annoyances, irritations, and challenges that enter your life every day in order to grow and learn. Recognize that in stepping up to them and using a more aware consciousness to choose to react responsibly and from a self-loving position, you are literally breaking the process of moving towards the inner divine into small, and much more manageable bits. Each day brings you a bit closer, and each day you grow. Some days may be dark and filled with pain, but on those you can take care of your thoughts and feelings in ways you would not have been able (or knowledgeable enough) to do so before. Spiritual growth is not about trumpeting your new insights and beliefs to the world, but about living in a spiritual way in all the little things you must do and that happen to you as much as possible every day.
Finally, pay close attention to this brilliant Zen adage that has inspired my life since the 70's:
Before enlightenment
Chop wood, carry water
After enlightenment
Chop wood, carry water
Photo credit: Mizzy Pacheco
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Also visit my book website: www.gabriellakortsch.com where you may download excerpts or read quotations from any of my books. My latest book Emotional Unavailability & Neediness: Two Sides of the Same Coin is available globally on Amazon in print & Kindle. You can also obtain it (or any of my other books) via Barnes & Noble.
Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch (English)
Angefangen mit Rewiring the Soul - auf Deutsch: Deine Seele und Du, jetzt weltweit erhältlich als Taschenbuch oder Kindle E-Book (Blog hier), werden auch meine anderen Bücher in Zukunft auf Deutsch bei Amazon erhältlich sein.
Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is Rewiring the Soul so named for my first book. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.
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Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch (English)

Bücher von Dr. Gabriella Kortsch (Deutsch) ... JETZT bei Amazon (Taschenbuch oder E-Book) erhältlich
DEINE SEELE UND DU
Libros por Gabriella Kortsch (español) ... ahora en Amazon en versión bolsillo y E-Libro para Kindle
Empezando con Rewiring the Soul - en español: Reconectar con el Alma (blog aquí), se podrán encontrar mis libros en español por todo el mundo próximamente en Amazon.
My blog posts are also featured on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest & you can find me on Instagram