20 Signs You've Had a Spiritual Awakening
When you have a spiritual awakening, you are changed as a person. You stop being so egotistical and begin thinking more about others. These are two vital elements needed to maintain sobriety, which is why many people recommend seeking a spiritual experience when you get sober.
Some people have spiritual awakenings that happen as a “white light” moment, where you have an encounter with the mystical, and are radically transformed in an instant. For other people, more often, spiritual awakenings come more as a gradual process.
Do you think you have had a spiritual awakening? This article gives you 20 signs that you have.
20 signs of spiritual awakening
Spiritual awakenings are different for everyone. When you have a spiritual awakening, you may have one of these elements, or you might have more than one.
Signs you've had a spiritual awakening include:
1. You’ve started questioning reality
For a long time, you may have taken the world around you at face value. But lately, something has been nagging at you, making you question whether what you see is really all there is. You find yourself wondering if there is more to life than what meets the eye. Could it be that there is a whole other level of reality that exists beyond our everyday experience?
2. You feel an inner yearning for something more
You may not be sure what it is that you are searching for, but you know that there must be more to life than what you are currently experiencing. This inner yearning can manifest itself as a deep restlessness or dissatisfaction with life as it is. You may find yourself seeking out new experiences or exploring different philosophies in an attempt to quench this thirst for something more.
For some people, this manifests as a desire for the divine, and they start to spend more and more time trying to get closer to a higher power.
3. You are no longer content with material possessions
Perhaps in the past you found joy in acquiring material possessions but now find that they do not bring you the lasting happiness that you are looking for. You may even begin to feel like your possessions are weighing you down instead of bringing you pleasure. Instead, you start to value experiences and relationships over things. Connection with other people becomes more important to you and is part of your spiritual awakening.
4. You are drawn to nature
You may find yourself wanting to be in nature more, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The sights and sounds of the natural world fill you with a sense of peace and wonder. You feel a deep connection to all of life and begin to appreciate the beauty in everything around you.
5. Feeling a sense of oneness with the universe
You may start to feel like you are part of something much larger than yourself. You sense a connectedness to all of humanity and even to all of life itself. This can lead to a feeling of profound love and compassion for all beings, regardless of their race, religion, or creed.
6. Becoming more sensitive to energy
You may start to notice that you are incredibly sensitive to the energy around you and can feel the emotions of others as if they were your own. You may also start to see, auras, colours and lights around people and objects that you didn’t notice before.
7. You are experiencing more synchronicities
You may start to notice that life seems to be unfolding in mysterious ways. Coincidences and serendipitous events seem to be happening more frequently than ever before. Where previously you would have brushed off these coincidences as chance, you start to feel like there is something guiding them.
8. Your intuition is stronger than ever
You may find yourself relying on your intuition more and more as your spiritual awareness grows. You trust your gut instinct above all else and often follow its guidance.
9. You are going through intense emotions
As you begin to open up to a higher level of consciousness, you may find yourself experiencing a wide range of intense emotions. From elation and joy to sadness and grief, you feel everything more deeply than you ever have before.
10. You know that there is more to life than meets the eye
You may not be able to put it into words, but you just know that there is so much more to life than what we can see with our physical eyes. This is combined with a deep sense of awe and wonder at the mystery of existence. And you know that, even though you may not understand it all, there is a grand plan at work that is far beyond your comprehension.
11. You don’t feel like drinking or using
All the elements of a spiritual awakening make you feel so fulfilled that you no longer want to drink or use. Be aware that you should discontinue walking the spiritual path, the desire to drink or use may come back.
12. Spirituality is a big part of your life
Spirituality is either one of the most important or the most important aspects of your life. You realise the significance of spirituality, and could not imagine your life without it.
13. You act with integrity
When you start with see the universe in a holistic way, it naturally brings you to a place of integrity. Selfishness falls away, as you see how your negative actions affect other people.
14. You are more aware of inauthentic people
You become sensitive to people who are inauthentic or manipulative, and have a low tolerance for being around them. You experience feelings of compassion for people who act in these ways, and understand that people usually act like this because they are in pain.
15. You want to be of service
When you have had a spiritual awakening, you no longer focus on your needs and desires, but instead look at how you can best serve the people around you, and humanity in general. You may change your career so you can better be of service. If you are in a twelve-step fellowship, you may start taking on more sponsees.
16. You have increased empathy
You feel the pain of people around you more acutely. This can be difficult for some people, as you cannot help everyone who is around you. This realisation is one that is often challenging for people who have had a spiritual awakening.
17. You have better impulse control
People with addiction issues tend to have poor impulse control. When you have a spiritual awakening, you may notice that this improves, as your levels of attachment to people, places and things become lessened.
19. You become more tolerant of others
One of the gifts that a spiritual awakening brings is tolerance and patience for yourself. You become more aware of your own flaws and with this you become more forgiving of others
20. You try to put more love into the world
Addiction is a very dark place. In contrast, having had a spiritual awakening, you will be keen to show more love, kindness and compassion to others. You may wish to carry out random acts of kindness for family and for your fellows
Others are likely to notice the difference in you
Sometimes it can take a while for a person to even realise that they have had a spiritual awakening. More often than not, others around them will see a positive difference before they do.
Friends, partners and family members are likely to notice a marked change in a person's attitude and outlook to life. They become less stressed, more focused and more accepting of life events.
A spiritual awakening enables a person to see life through a new pair of eyes, with love and understanding. They no longer fight everything and everyone, instead they accept, knowing that it not their responsibility to fix or control others or events.
The Dark Night of the Soul - The dark before the Dawn
For some people, before they experience a spiritual awakening, they have something known as a “dark night of the soul”. This can include:
- Low mood
- Feeling lost
- Feeling isolated
- Losing motivation to do things
- Feeling of not belonging
- Constant tiredness
These can be a preface to an awakening. However, it may be that you are simply experiencing depression. If you feel the symptoms above, it may be worth speaking with a mental health professional to make sure of what the symptoms are caused by.
It is also worth noting that not all parts of the spiritual process are enjoyable, and there will be times that will be challenging. In these instances, you should remember that “this too shall pass”.
If you have a tendency to overdo things, realise that this is also possible with spirituality. Unless you are very far advanced along the spiritual path, it is important that while you are doing “the work” you also enjoy your life!
How is having a spiritual awakening the opposite of addiction?
When you are in addiction, you often don’t want to be around people. You tend to isolate and engage in your addiction by yourself. This feeling of being alone can cause you to continue to engage in addictive behaviour, to distract yourself from the pain of disconnection.
Having a spiritual awakening brings us back to connection. We feel a connection to ourselves, to others, and perhaps to a higher power. It is this feeling of connectedness that steers us away from our addictive tendencies.
The more you engage with the work required for spiritual awakening, the more you increase your ability to feel connected, and the less desire you have to use drugs or alcohol.
A spiritual awakening is helpful to sobriety
There are many different types of spiritual awakening and there are many ways of achieving one. Once you have had a spiritual awakening, you will find it far easier to maintain your sobriety.
Do not be disheartened if you are on the road to a spiritual awakening and have not had one yet. A spiritual awakening often comes when a person heals the deep roots within themselves that cause them the most pain. This is often not straight forwards or a quick process.
Try and forget about your desire to have a spiritual awakening, keep doing “the work” and one will be sure to come along, often when you least expect it!
At Recoverlution we believe spirituality can really help a person to thrive in their recovery. We have therefore dedicated many ways in which spiritual growth can be achieved. Check out our other articles and our Wellness hub which offers a plethora of evidence-based methods for personal and spiritual growth and well-being.
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