Self Improvement with Job

There is a British author named Rumer Godden. One of her books is titled A House with Four Rooms. It is her autobiography and the title is taken from an Indian proverb. The four rooms are a metaphor for the four parts of our life. I want to offer a quote from her book that lays the groundwork for this article on creating abundance with a balanced life.

“Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.”

I find the part about airing each room every day especially important. It’s easy to write about having this balance but putting it to work in our life especially on a daily basis, now that is another story. First off (I’m beginning to write as if I’m British…isn’t that tricky!), defining those four areas is essential so that you’re understanding what I mean.

The physical is straight forward. Each of us is moving around in a physical body. Some feel it is a blessing and even call it a temple. Yet others feel it is a disadvantage and still others ignore it with abusive behavior, believing there are no effects from their actions.

The mental is our mind. Be aware that I did not say our brain because I think that our brain is a magnificent body part that is the receptor for our mind. In either  event, the mental is our thoughts.

The emotional is our feelings. This is the part of our life that includes all of our personal feelings as well as the social aspects of our life such as our relationships. We can further break down our relationships into all of the wonderful categories such as romantic or platonic.

The spiritual body is that piece of us that taps into the Divine however we choose to call it and however we wish to define it. This body is perhaps the must elusive to describe because it is so personal and private. It is also so diverse. On a spectrum we have atheists to religious zealots and everyone in between.

Although those are very brief descriptions I think that you have the essence of what I’m referring to. Now let’s look at ways in which we can act in the four areas. In the physical the choices are huge. We can care for the body through diet and exercise. The mental is used through challenging our minds through education. The emotional is engaged through building our relationships. The spiritual can be through a practice of prayer.

Now that we know the what and the how, the when and the where are further decisions. Godden is recommending that the when be daily. That doesn’t mean that we have to do the same activity every day although we could, if it pleases us, but rather that we do one activity in each area every day.

The where, well, this is probably the easiest part of the whole equation. For if you have figured out all the rest, the where will just fall naturally into place.

In order to follow this recommendation, we clearly have to believe it is important. Then we have to make a commitment to follow through. Sounds so simple on paper, yes? I assure you it is not. Otherwise, you and I would have accomplished it and certainly ascended by now. Nope, we’re still here working on it in this wonderful thing we call life.

So what to do? Start with one area and add an activity that you desire to your day. Make it simple and joyful. Make it something you really, really want to do on a regular basis. Then with each success add another something until your life is balanced. The goal is to move toward balance or at least more balance than when you began.

Oh, food for thought. There might be more rooms in our house than Godden thought. In the transpersonal field there are at least two more rooms. On your journey of creating abundance, you can create any room that is special for you!