Should We Try to Measure Progress on Our Spiritual Path?

Many humans consider themselves on a spiritual path with a practice dedicated to that path. Those paths and how they look and feel are as unique as we are. There are plenty of folks out there living a spiritual life who do not think about it in that context because it is so intertwined with who they are, there is no separation.  

I’ve always been a seeker, searching for doorways and paths that lead me to the Great Mystery, the Divine within and all around me. For years my spiritual life has been a path that I focused on, something I thought a lot about, and wanted to grow. Gradually I loosened the mental attention to it and it became embodied, less seeking and more being.

When we are living from our hearts, we are probably not thinking about the path that we are on being Spiritual. We are just living our lives. But then something comes up and we put ourselves in that context. Maybe someone asks us a question about our beliefs or asks if we have a spiritual practice. Or we are called to re-evaluate our beliefs and practices, realizing something doesn’t resonate with us any more. Sometimes we may just want a new way of looking at Spirit.

Sometimes our evaluations turn into expectations of what we think our spiritual path should look like; peaceful, sitting in stillness, unruffled by triggers, blessing all with unconditional love. Or perhaps we thought we’d be able to see everyones auras and hear angels give us advice every day. Maybe we thought we’d be able to heal the world by now.

I’ve lost track of how many times I have said I would be an excellent meditator if I was in a temple or ashram. But life is not like that and truly, most of us did not sign up for that.  One of my teachers told me that anyone can meditate in loving kindness alone on a mountain, but doing it while juggling work, family, and the chaos of modern life is master level!

There is a lot of talk in the modern spiritual community about “leveling up” and progress when it comes to our practices and path. How do we as conscious seekers measure progress? Is it even something we can or should try to measure? 

Instead of progress, which sets us up for a pass/fail  kind of thinking, I’d rather think about it as an alignment. Am I in alignment with the current path I am on? Just asking that may be a sign I need to re-evaluate. But if I am not really sure, I look for a few familiar signposts that help me evaluate my current path. Here I list just a few main ones, but there are other subtle ones as well.

Trust - I have learned to trust my team of Spirit helpers, and to trust life. If I find myself worrying for days in a row, I know something is out of alignment for me spiritually. I can then backtrack until I find where I stepped off and regroup with my team.

Synchronocities - I have them every day. But if they are specific to reflect answers or confirmations to questions, topics or situations I’ve been thinking about or asking my Spirit team about, I feel supported, in alignment.

Non attachment - to me it means I can let things go without getting emotionally entangled in my own drama. It also means that I can be okay with the answer my team gives me even if it wasn’t the answer I may have wanted. And releasing others to their perfect path helps me to feel aligned on my own.

Connection - Realizing the big picture, the multi-dimensional web of life, and that I am connected to it all. I can sense it, and feel aligned in my place in that web and that my path is part of it as well. 

Unconditional love - being able to access that state even when I do not agree with or condone the actions of someone or something helps me feel in alignment with my path. 

Joy - finding joy, even in small things in difficult times, and being able to radiate it is a sure sign I feel aligned in my path.

I don’t always feel like I have all of these all the time, but together they work as a good indication to show where I’m at on my path. If it is where I want to be, then I feel like my practices and tools, my focus and intentions are working for me. I feel I am in alignment with my spiritual path.  Until the next time I feel called to re-evaluate anyway.

And as always, I just share what works for me. I realize there are as many paths out there as there are people, and we may have different sign posts. Comparing our path to anyone else’s is not helpful or relevant. Everyone uses a variety of tools and practices to get along their path, and everyone needs to do what works best for them. 

May your signposts be clear and your paths be meaningful!