Spiritual Centering is key to real satisfaction and happiness. We can withstand almost anything if we're spiritually centered. Yes, we do need to eat, have clothes on our backs and shelter. But once achieved, and our survival necessities have been met, we can turn to higher level needs and desires. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Human needs, once survival needs are met, we as human beings have evolved to look to fulfilling higher level needs. We have evolved to the point where that voice inside of most of us says that there is something more to life beyond accumulating possessions and other shallow and material 'victories'. That there must be something more to life. And we all know that there is more to life than 'the person with the most toys wins'.

Most people reading this article will likely agree that reaching one's spiritual center is probably the highest level of existence we can attain. And this is often viewed as a solitary effort, through meditation for instance. However, we can also touch our spiritual center through acts of generosity, of giving of oneself to others. Both are higher level traits and are in some ways exclusive of each other and in other ways, have elements of the other.

This is not an academic discussion, as what I'm trying to say is that you can reach a spiritual center by turning your attention within, and by directing your love outwards to others. Another way of saying this is that our spiritual center can be reached through meditation and by good deeds to others. One is more self-orieinted and the other is more selfless, although like the yin/yang symbol, there's a bit of each in both approaches.

Meditation, though ultimately a solitary endeavor, can involve doing it in groups and meditating on issues involving others. If it's guided meditation, it involves at least another person who is guiding it. Even if it's unguided, others are generally involved in your thoughts.

Concerning giving of your time and energy to others, which seems like an entirely selfless act, the fact that it makes you feel good to give and reveals the self to be very involved in this activity. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just important to recognize that very few things are 100% and that even giving of yourself to others has some self in it. I would go as far as to say that you should get something out of your giving. Otherwise, it's probably done out of obligation, necessity, guilt or some other 'non-positive' reason.

But the bottom line is that meditation, guided or unguided, and giving of oneself to others are the best ways to reach your spiritual center.