No one teaches us how to cry. From infancy, our most primal and natural way of communicating is to cry. We are in pain. We need something. There is something we want that we don't yet have. And so we cry. As we get older, we may be told not to cry. So we find other ways to cope and manage our pain. The need to cry never goes away, but it gets buried deeper inside of us. Yesterday, there was a tragedy that shook our world. It caused us a deep pain. Our souls were stirred with grief. Grief unearths our tears from where they are buried. We feel pain, suffering, disappointment. Our souls are stirred, and something deep within us feels the need to cry. God created us to cry. He created us in his image, meaning that grief and tears are a part of God as well. When we feel grief, we live out of our God-created selves. Grief, though painful, allows us to know God more deeply. Grief also allows us to know each other more deeply - we enter into friendship and companionship with others. As we grieve, we can be sure that God is drawing us closer to himself and his heart. If your soul is stirred by grief today, as mine is, I invite you to cry with me. Let us cry over the deaths of these precious, beloved children of God. Let us cry over the hate that moves people to terrorism and violence. Let us cry over families and friends who are devastated by the loss of their loved ones. Let us cry over a nation that has had far too many mass killings. Let us cry over a broken world that is entrenched in sin and evil. Let us cry over entire people groups that are marginalized, scared, and in deep pain. Let us cry over fearful prejudice that prompts dehumanizing through actions, words, and silence. Let us cry over our despair, confusion, and hopelessness. Let us cry over our world that is waiting, waiting, waiting on God to rescue and save. Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
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There is a website change in the urls here. This mostly matters if you have my site bookmarked or publishing in a feed. You will want to make an edit wherever you have bookmarked my website urls. Now larissamarks.com is the "house" for all of my projects and sites. You can go there to find links to my Spiritual Journey ministry, The Larissa Monologues, etc. I made this change because with all of my ever-evolving projects, I wanted to streamline them into one main site under my name.
Please bear with me as I try to work out website forwarding issues. I majored in THEATRE for crying out loud. If all this is way too technical for you, just ignore this announcement. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. One of my primary aims with this blog is to resource and equip you in your spiritual and personal development and growth. So today I want to share with you a really useful tool called the Wheel of Life (also sometimes called the Life Balance Wheel). The Wheel of Life is a self-assessment tool that is often used in coaching. It is a great resource for personal and leadership development, and lays a foundation for good goal-setting. I have personally used the Wheel of Life to set goals for personal development, as well as with various people I lead and mentor. How does the Wheel of Life connect with the spiritual journey? Our spiritual lives are integrated with all sorts of other areas of our lives. And if we are seeking to grow spiritually, it is wise for us to step back and do a more thorough assessment of all of the core components of our lives. My 6 Simple Questions for Self-Reflection included a simple version of the Wheel of Life. Since then, many people have asked me for more details on how it can be used. I've been listening, and created a more in-depth exploration of the Wheel of Life tool. Here you will find a tutorial on how to use the Wheel of Life for your own personal development, as well as free worksheets for you. The Wheel of Life The Wheel of Life is a great starting place for you to create balance, cultivate joy, and find fulfillment in your life. By using this tool, you will be able to reflect on how fulfilled and satisfied you are with the various areas of your life. Following this self-reflection, you can use this exercise to determine how balanced your life is, why your Wheel of Life looks the way it does, and what changes you want to make to your life. Ultimately, the purpose of the Wheel of Life is to identify how satisfied you are with your current life, and be able to determine ways to increase your joy and satisfaction. Are you ready to use the Wheel of Life? I have a worksheet packet with instructions. Click HERE or the image below to download your free worksheets. How to Use the Wheel of Life You can create your own Wheel of Life with a pen and paper, or use the downloaded version I created for you. It should look like the image below: a circle, divided into 8 categories. Each section of the circle has a category representing a core area of your life. I used eight categories that made the most sense to me, but feel free to modify the categories so it fits YOUR life. Make sure the categories are meaningful to you. Step 1: complete your Wheel of Life For each section of your Wheel of Life, consider how fulfilled you are in that area. Draw a dot between the center of the circle and the outer circle to represent the amount you feel fulfilled in that area, with the center representing 0% and the outer edge representing 100%. Here are some reflection questions to help you determine your level of fulfillment in each category: Career & Money: Is your career where you want it to be? Are you headed in the direction you want to be going? How satisfied are you with your overall finances? Home & Family: Is your home life and environment fulfilling? How connected and supported do you feel with your family? Personal Growth: Are you satisfied with the direction you are going? Are you learning and growing in the way you want? Hobbies & Creativity: Do you have activities that help you enjoy life and get energized? How satisfied are you with the level of leisure and fun that you do? Life Purpose & Vision: How meaningful and purposeful does your life feel? Do you have a sense that your life has meaning and impact? Relationships: How fulfilled do you feel with the different relationships in your life? Do you have friendships and a sense of community to the level that you want? Spirituality: How satisfied are you with your connection with God? How fulfilled are you at the core of your soul? Health & Wellbeing: How satisfying is your energy and health? Is your level of physical and mental health where you want them to be? After you draw your dots for each category, connect each of the dots with a line to create a shape. Most likely it is a starburst. This shape represents your Wheel of Life. Step 2: assess your Wheel of Life Take a look at your Wheel, and reflect on it. You will notice some areas of life in which you are very fulfilled, and other areas in which you are less fulfilled. Withhold any judgement on yourself - just look at it and notice what you observe. Take some time to answer these questions:
This step is meant to bring your attention to the things you want to improve. Step 3: determine the action steps you want to take Now that you have a deeper sense of your Wheel of Life, you are in a position to take the action that you want. Let's take a closer look at any area of the wheel that you want to change and increase fulfillment. In each of these areas, answer the following questions:
Choose a few actions steps at a time to work on. You should make changes at your own pace. You can also track your progress. Complete the Wheel of Life again in 6 months or so, and see what progress you have made. The Wheel of Life is also a great tool for leaders and coaches. You can use this with people you're coaching, and have it be a starting point for goal-setting and growth. Are you ready to use the Wheel of Life? I have a worksheet packet with instructions. Click HERE or the image below to download your free worksheets. If you liked this article, you might enjoy reading 6 Simple Questions For Self-Reflection. How was the Wheel of Life tool for you? What action steps do you want to take this week to increase your joy and fulfillment? Please share in the comments. Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
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WELCOMEHi, I'm Larissa. I am an artist and spiritual director on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i.
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