What Is Spirituality

Spirituality is a word that has endless definitions and means something different to everyone. Although no one definition may be the same, they all lead back to one basic idea – faith. Everyone believes that spirituality is something that you believe in and something that you feel. When I asked five very different people what their definition of the word spirituality was I got various answers. The answers ranged from being very religion based to not at all. The first person I asked was a sixteen year old girl. Her response to the question of what spirituality means she said “It means it’s a feeling about being in touch with your soul. That you believe in not just that God rules everything but that everything happens for a reason. Also, that if you are more in touch with yourself that you will be more in touch with the world and that means you will have total happiness.” At this age it is sometimes hard I think to come up with your own personal definition because you still want and are sometimes expected to follow what your parents are doing with their own spirituality. The second person I questioned was an eighteen year old girl. Her statement was that “it is the religious aspect of your personality. It effects how you act, usually making you a better person. It means believing in something bigger than yourself and having faith in humanity.” Next, I asked a friend of mine who is a twenty year old male. He answered with “It is obviously being religions, but it is more than that to an extent. I guess to me it means having faith in a higher being.” This to me sounds like a very typical young male adult answer. The fact that it is a little unsure and like he is still discovering what he really thinks it means to him. The fourth person I asked was my mother who is forty-one. She defined spirituality as “to me it means having faith and the acceptance of what we cannot see, but feel. This is sometimes hard for people to accept because it is not tangible, but provides an infinite hope that cannot be provided by anything tangible.” Lastly I asked my twenty-one year old fiancé. He responded that to him spirituality means “believing in that there is a higher being, whether it is religious or supernatural. It is appreciating and respecting your religions guidelines and values.” If I had to define what spirituality means to me I would say that it is something deep inside you that no one else can see or understand. That it is to believe in something bigger than yourself and that whatever that may be cares for you and protects you. To me spirituality is believing that everything happens for a reason and that there is a plan for you. I feel that it is important to know the age of the person giving their own definition of spirituality because it helps to show the stage that they are at with their religion. After asking a handful of people what they think the word spirituality means to them it helps me prove that everyone believes something different and always will no matter what age.