For most people, life encompasses external things such as events, activities, people, and possessions. But another life exists for us that is inward and reflective. This inner life is what we experience when we are alone. For some, this life is rich and deep, and these people seek solitude in order to experience the wealth of their\u00a0inner abundance. For others, their\u00a0inner life is shallow or non-existent, because they don\u2019t know what an inner life is or how to cultivate one.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to describe an inner life, but I will give it my best try. An inner life is our relationship with ourselves. It includes how we relate to ourselves, how we talk to ourselves, and how we spend time with ourselves. It\u2019s what we do to nurture our souls. It isn\u2019t what we think about ourselves as much as how we treat ourselves based on what we believe. An inner life is a series of experiences we have with our own being or soul. These experiences include moments of positive self-regard, exploration of one\u2019s internal makeup, self-discovery, contemplation, or conscious acts of being present with oneself.<\/p>\n
When we have an inner life, we are more comfortable with ourselves, so much so that we enjoy our own company. I\u2019m not saying we become reclusive, but we learn to regard ourselves with the same love and interest as the other people in our lives. Self-interest propels us to learn about and appreciate our uniqueness, rather than despise it. It manifests as a healthy curiosity and fascination toward ourselves. Over time, we come to know and value ourselves. This pursuit translates into an ever-deepening relationship we have with ourselves, characterized by a genuine desire to nurture the spirit within us.<\/p>\n
When we extend compassion to ourselves, we are more likely to nurture our\u00a0inner life,\u00a0our relationship with ourselves. We make a mistake when we think we have to like ourselves to start our\u00a0journey. If that\u00a0were the case, most of us would never start. Instead, we must start with compassion, the same compassion we would give someone who doesn\u2019t appear to fit in.<\/p>\n
With grace-filled kindness, we invite ourselves into our inner circle of friends as someone\u00a0deserving of equal attention and worth. We need to\u00a0learn to love and accept ourselves because withholding love stunts our emotional and spiritual growth.<\/p>\n
Finding the power to love ourselves rarely comes from within. We discover this power by looking to God and allowing Him to love us. It is His unconditional love for us that frees us to love ourselves unconditionally. An effective prayer would be, \u201cGod, help me to experience Your love so I can love myself as deeply as You love me.\u201d<\/p>\n
We invest ourselves in what we value, so if we don\u2019t love ourselves, we won\u2019t invest any energy into cultivating an inner life. We’ll neglect or abandon our inner needs and fail to nurture our souls. Without an inner life, we will look for happiness and fulfillment in external things. When external things fail us, we will have no inner well from which to draw strength or sustenance. When we have an inner life, we can draw from our core from which springs an outflow of God\u2019s graces, such as peace and joy. God isn\u2019t outside of us where we climb a mountain to find Him. Rather, we dig a well inside ourselves and find Him when we dig deep enough. The Bible says he is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27). It\u2019s within this inner life that we often encounter God.<\/p>\n
After we have learned to love and accept ourselves, the next step is to learn to be present to ourselves. This means we are consciously attentive toward our thoughts and feelings, without judgment or fixing. We choose to enjoy our being outside of labels or performance. My therapist used to encourage me to be always curious and to channel my curiosity toward exploring my inner landscape. In those days, exploration of my inner self brought up panic and paralyzing fear. I was certain that what lurked inside me was monstrous and terrifying. After many forays into that dark place, I discovered that the things I feared were vapors without substance. They dissolved when I faced them head-on. Later, when I wondered why that inner realm was always dark, God explained that it was dark because I hadn\u2019t invited Him there. When I did so, light illuminated that inner place for the first time. Afterward, God and I could explore the visible terrain together.<\/p>\n
One obstacle to getting started is having to admit we don\u2019t have an inner life. We fear looking inside and finding nothing. The sad truth is that we don\u2019t know our own souls or the importance of knowing them. Our souls are beautiful beyond words, having a richness, depth, and mystery that rival a nebula in space. If we beheld our souls in their full magnificence, we would respond in awe and come to treasure them as they deserve.<\/p>\n
An inner life is the seat from which we can experience lasting joy and peace that are not attached to externals. More importantly, it is the seat from which we can have a relationship with God. Our relationship with God is between our spirit and His. God interacts with us within the realm of this inner life. These spiritual experiences and events comprise our personal history with God, a real relationship marked by meaningful interactions and deepening intimacy.<\/p>\n
I suggest making time for solitude where you learn to be with yourself and to know yourself. Invite God to show you what He sees. Invite His love to touch the areas you are unable to love and to illuminate those areas that are in darkness. Allow God to ease your fears and coax you to become a fully spiritual being with whom He can have a relationship.<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
Rick Hocker is a game programmer, artist and author. In 2004, he sustained a back injury that left him bed-ridden in excruciating pain for six months, followed by a long recovery. He faced the challenges of disability, loss of income, and mounting debt. After emerging from this dark time, he discovered that profound growth had occurred. Three years later, he had a dream that inspired him to write his award-winning book, Four in the Garden. His intent was to illustrate one’s growth toward deep communion with God and to share the insights he gained from the personal transformation that resulted from his back injury. He lives in Martinez, California.<\/p>\n
For more articles, visit http:\/\/www.rickhocker.com\/articles.html For most people, life encompasses external things such as events, activities, people, and possessions. But another life exists for us that is inward and reflective. This inner life is what we experience when we are alone. For some, this life is rich and deep, and these people seek solitude in order to experience the wealth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[10],"tags":[35,36,37],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Hhvw-48","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":336,"url":"https:\/\/www.rickhocker.com\/weblog\/the-silent-tomb-an-easter-reflection-on-the-coronavirus\/","url_meta":{"origin":256,"position":0},"title":"The Silent Tomb: An Easter reflection on the coronavirus","date":"April 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had wondered about the significance of the coronavirus peak happening around Easter. What came to mind was Christ\u2019s tomb. A tomb is dark and silent and empty, except for the dead. With social distancing measures in place, we\u2019ve been forced into solitude. We\u2019ve been stripped of our outer lives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christ"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/www.rickhocker.com\/weblog\/a-deeper-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":256,"position":1},"title":"A Deeper Relationship","date":"November 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A \"relationship with God\" sounds like a lovely thought. But what does it look like? Has anyone defined it for you? How does one have a relationship with a being whom we can\u2019t see or touch? Seems ridiculous, doesn\u2019t it? A healthy relationship is interactive. 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You Are Unique But you\u2019re unique\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "True Self"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":275,"url":"https:\/\/www.rickhocker.com\/weblog\/overcoming-fear\/","url_meta":{"origin":256,"position":4},"title":"Overcoming Fear","date":"July 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Addressing fear takes more than applying methods or formulas. It requires a shift in consciousness, a new way of thinking. While preparing to write this article, God told me: \u201cFear has everything to do with\u00a0one\u2019s relationship with oneself.\u201d I\u2019ve been thinking about that statement for the past week and will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spirituality"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":272,"url":"https:\/\/www.rickhocker.com\/weblog\/when-god-feels-far-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":256,"position":5},"title":"When God Feels Far Away","date":"July 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In my book, Four in the Garden, the protagonist, Cherished, loses his connection to Creator. Because of this loss, Cherished feels as though Creator has abandoned him. In the story, I had neglected to show that Creator stayed close. I recently revised my book and added this missing scene. 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\nWebsite: <\/a>http:\/\/www.rickhocker.com<\/a>
\n<\/u>Email: <\/a>mail@rickhocker.com<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"