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Available for over a year

Preventing the NHS from becoming overwhelmed has been at the forefront over the course of the pandemic. But it's not just our Health Services that are struggling. Whether I'm speaking to patients in my clinic or members of my congregation, many people are feeling drained, working hard just to stand still. Our planet, communities, families and us as individuals are all at different stages of healing, recovering and making new beginnings following the many losses and changes that we've been through in the last 2 years. These upheavals have affected the quality of our day to day lives and have also had an impact on our spiritual lives. When I’m struggling, I find great value in the advice of the Hindu Saint Rupa Goswami. In the Upadeshamrita text he points to three positive attitudes he says are important to nurture: Utsaha - Enthusiasm, Nishchaya - Confidence and Dhairya - Patience. By enthusiasm he doesn’t merely mean chasing an uplifting feeling. Feelings are important but can be unreliable. Nor does he mean using our rational minds to think our way into a positive mindset. Rather, the enthusiasm we are invited to connect with is a spiritual intelligence – a wisdom of the soul – which motivates us to act in our best interests as well as the best interests of others. The second attitude is confidence. This is not just about self-confidence, but the confidence we might have in something bigger than ourselves. Seeking a relationship with divinity or a connection to a greater cause can generate confidence through a sense of support and protection. This confidence, according to Rupa Goswami, can in turn help us to sustain our enthusiasm. The final attitude is patience – the capacity to accept or tolerate our circumstances without seeing the immediate results of our endeavours. Patience, combined with enthusiasm and confidence, provides the perspective I need to see that things might not always turn out the way I want them to in the timeframe I hope for, because there are sacred universal forces driven by a compassion that’s looking to do what’s best for most people at any one time. Positive psychological attitudes such as enthusiasm, confidence and patience, I believe, are further enhanced when informed by a spiritual wisdom. But they are not exclusive to the spiritual path and can be powerful tools to help us in difficult times.