Spirit-Centered Protection

My life, health and well-being are primarily my own responsibly. It is primarily up to me to protect myself from harm and keep myself alive and healthy. It is a responsibility I refuse to relinquish to others. Since protecting myself is about keeping myself alive, and since spirit is that which makes me alive, self-protection is a spirit-related matter.

Spirit-centered protection looks at self-protection from the perspective protecting one's own spirit in order to stay alive and live a healthy, creative, and happy life.

Self-Protection is Inherent to Our Spirit

Based on observations of living beings, I think it is reasonable to generalize that every living being has a natural, basic instinct to protect itself from harm. When we feel threatened  we either fight, flee, or freeze. Self-protection is inherent in our spirit. That which makes us alive has a basic desire to stay alive, unharmed, and healthy.

Self-Protection is Life-Affirming

Self-protection is life-affirming. It is something we do well to become very good at if we value our own spirit and life. If we do not value our own spirit and life, something very serious is wrong and we do well to address it.

Self-Protection Takes Many Forms

For us humans, self-protection takes many forms. It includes breathing fresh, clean air; drinking fresh, clean water; eating fresh, organic whole foods; having sufficient clothing and shelter; sleeping well; doing meaningful work; and protecting ourselves from both predators and natural disasters. 

Being able to protect ourselves is one characteristic of living as a mature, adult human being.

Questioning Relinquishing Our Responsibility to Others

We do well to recognize that often those who encourage us to depend on them for our protection, do us no favors. They nurture a dependence on them that weakens our natural instincts and bodies, and limits our freedom. They put us at risk.

Questioning Self-Sacrifice

We do well to recognize that often those who call for self-sacrifice do us no favors. Those who call for self-sacrifice rarely sacrifice themselves. They call on others to do what they themselves will not. 

However, we also do well to recognize our natural instinct to put our own lives at risk for those who are dear to us. For example, it is natural for parents to risk their own lives to protect their young. It is natural for friends to risk their lives for each other. Such actions to protect the lives of those dear to us and unable to protect themselves, differ greatly from those where we are asked to sacrifice our lives for cowards who clothe their appeal in abstractions of greater causes and higher callings.

Some Question to Consider

How safe are you? Are you giving yourself the air, water, food, shelter, and protection from harm you require in order to not only live but thrive?

What do you need to do to better protect yourself from harm?

What can you do today to take some steps in the direction  of better protecting yourself from harm?

If you have relinquished you responsibility for protecting yourself from harm, what can do to take it back?