He was once asked, by Roger Babson, (1875 - 1967) the founder of Babson College in Massachusetts and the author of more than 40 books on economic and social problems, what line of research he thought would see the greatest development during the course of the next 100 years. He said: Charles P. Steinmetz, (1865 - 1923) was German-American mathematician and electrical engineer. He fostered the development of alternating current. His work as a scientist, significantly influenced the expansion of the electrical power industry possible in the United States. He formulated many important electrical engineering theories that enabled the design of electric motors.
"I think the greatest discovery will be made along spiritual lines. Here is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the development of men. Yet we have merely been playing with it and have never seriously studied it as we have the physical forces. Someday, people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in the making men and women creative and powerful. Then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of God and prayer and the spiritual forces, which as of yet have hardly been scratched. When this day comes, the world will see more advancement in one generation that it has seen in the past four."
Unfortunately, as a society, instead of moving toward spiritual topics, we have moved away from them. It is clear, that the pursuits of the last 30 years have been largely focused on the acquisition of material wealth. We are now feeling the pain of those pursuits. As predicted we are discovering that the material conquests of life do not bring us happiness. But for some reason, we have not learned how to fully bring God into our lives. In fact, we seem to be pushing Him farther out of our minds. The topic of spirituality is often considered taboo in our society. Much care is taken to avoid the topic, and when it is raised now, it is almost always from the point of view that we do not need God anymore and that God is a myth or a fairly tale. Spiritual Intelligence I want to once again break the taboo and speak openly about spirituality. It continues to be a guiding force in my life. Because it can be a very intangible topic, it is difficult to define what it really is. That is why we need to study it more. Spirituality is an enlightened focus on who we really are. It helps us understand the purpose of our existence and to see things as they really are. In order for us to be truly happy, we must discover who we are. The process of discovering who we are is enhanced by the development of Spiritual Intelligence. One of the pioneers of spiritual intelligence is David King, defines it in the following way:
"spiritual intelligence is a set of adaptive mental capacities specifically related to the nature of one’s existence, personal meaning, transcendence, and heightened states of consciousness. When applied, these processes are adaptive in their ability to facilitate unique means of problem-solving, abstract-reasoning, and coping."
There Is Something More Than Achievement The shiny prizes of the world including its pleasures, power, praise, money, and fame—have always been and always will be attractive, but they are not enough. Those that reach the top of their goals, often find a dull world devoid of meaning. The sacrifice to gain what the world has to offer proves time and time again to be too steep a price to pay. Many of us are now discovering that the pursuit of doing at the expense of being does not deliver happiness. The question of what is this human life experience really all about is answered by and through the development of spiritual intelligence. The pursuit of Spiritual Intelligence focuses us on personal meaning making experiences. It insures that individuals know what they want, and more importantly, that they know who they are. This enables the spiritually intelligent individual to clearly express what his or her impact will be in the world. A person who possesses high levels of spiritual intelligence easily identifies with his or her Higher Self or Spirit rather than with the ego. They have less need to seek after their own interests. This fosters the capacity to serve and develop others. Nearly every organization I work with is concerned about developing higher levels of accountability. A spiritually intelligent person is empowered with a greater capacity for problem solving. It is natural for them to cope better with stressful situations because they know that what they are doing is only what they do and not who they are. As a result they are freer to act and to be, which results in greater productivity and engagement. Thinking, Feeling, Being Each of us is blessed with a mind, a body, and a spirit. All are interconnected and when they are developed together, a person makes greater strides toward becoming whole. As long as the development of spiritual intelligence is considered unimportant or old-fashioned, we will continue feel a lack. We can not solely rely on the development of cognitive and emotional intelligence to make us whole. By themselves, they are not enough. We can not be complete without developing greater levels of individual and collective spiritual intelligence. "Health," "wholeness," and "healing" all come from the same root. All of these come about because of who we are and not because of what we do. The French philosopher Teilhard de Chardin once said, “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” This quote inspires me. It gives me great hope and purpose. It generates meaning in a world where meaning is sometimes difficult to make. To be spiritually intelligent is to be fully engaged in becoming the best you – because it facilitates your ability to know exactly who the best you is. What does the idea of Spiritual Intelligence mean to you? What did your parents teach you about Spiritual Intelligence? Why do you think that we as a society are so afraid to discuss it? What do you think must happen before we can become comfortable with this topic? Are you willing to discover the real key to happiness? I hope you will spend some time pondering these questions. I look forward to your thoughts. Live Today! Love Today! 760-559-3548
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