A good job and a happy family! This is what we all aspire from life and are blissfully happy and satisfied on achieving this. But life for every one is not the same. Times and fortune change. When unexpected misfortunes happen we question – Why me? It is for these times that we have to be mentally prepared. It is in such difficult times that spirituality helps. Because good job means good life to us, we all work hard and study various subjects to get a good job. But do we prepare ourselves to face life as it comes?
Spirituality is mostly considered something for the forty plus people. This is a very wrong conception. As soon as we step out of school/college and step in a world where we have to fend for ourselves, that very moment life begins throwing up challenges. Challenges that lead to our maturity. We have to be prepared to face and understand the highs and lows of life. Spirituality helps us in the understanding of life. Why certain things in life happen to us!
We tend to think this material life to be the only one for us. But it is not so. We are a product of many previous births. And what we do today will decide our future lives beyond this current life. Our ancient scriptures like Vedanta offer a very practical explanation of life. These scriptures in no way preach things like leaving everything to destiny. The philosophy of Karma helps us accept life as it comes, and at the same time it emphasizes the need to do good to prepare the base for the next birth. The continuous cycle of birth and rebirth is actually a cleansing process of the soul till it reaches its Ultimate destination. It is entirely up to us, not to loose focus of that Ultimate goal. Because loosing sight of that goal means getting trapped in the vices of material world. The bad things in life are mostly very attractive and easy to get. But these are the ones that test us too. Falling in the trap is totally in our hands. Earning money for a better life is not bad. Being spiritual does not mean becoming a sanyasin. Grihasta ashram is an important phase of life, when every grihasta has to essentially provide for the secure future of the dependants. Without fulfilling the duties of a grihasta, one cannot attain salvation. The emphasis is on being righteous.
Nothing that happens in this life is without purpose. Difficult times are the best teachers if you have the grit, patience and intelligence to learn from it and move on. Keep your thinking positive in difficult situations. These are the times when questions like – what is the purpose of my being on this universe, who am I, what is soul, etc. arises. Grab the situation and read about life, when you are young. What’s the use of knowing yourself and life, when the life is almost over? 
Spirituality is different from religion or being religious! Spirituality is a much broader subject as it is about life and just life. Any form of religious practice can be termed as a stepping stone towards the Ultimate goal of life in this universe. Whether I worship Bhagwan, or pray to Allah or God, I am actually slowly moving towards that stage when I’ll become one with the one whom I have been praying.
This life is very much a reality for me right now. So is the life beyond this life, although I may often forget about it! We have to sharpen our mind to grasp the meaning of life, because this very birth will throw ample opportunities to us to get a glimpse of the immortal soul, which we actually are!

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