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• With Their Own Voices report • Fast Facts • Interviews and Essays • Practical Strategies • Speaking of Faith • Youth Voices -  Poetry of the Spirit -  What Does Spirituality Mean? Young People Speak Out -  What Is Spirituality? -  KidSpirit Magazine • Parent Voices • Researchers Corner	You are here: Home > Insights & Research > Youth Voices > Being actively spiritual is a choice Being actively spiritual is a choice. “If you don’t want to be spiritual, then can’t nobody make you do it.” (Female, 14, Minnesota, U.S.A.) “All people can be spiritual if they want to.” (Female, 12, Peru)  “If one wants to become spiritual, it will depend on the will of that person. If he wants to, he can.” (Female, Syria) “But they have to want to.” (Male, 14, U.S.A.)  “If you are not spiritual, then you don’t ever struggle with things, you don’t make a choice or ask, ‘why did this happen to me?’  If you are not spiritual, you will never learn anything … goes together with wisdom … you have to reflect on what’s happening to you.” (Male, 18, South Africa)  “You can be religious by coming to Jamat Khana [mosque] and doing your duty, but to be spiritual means that when you actually do your duty, you interact with Allah.” (Female, 15, England).  “I used to think being spiritual meant having a rule to obey, but now I know I have to make a choice.” (Kenya) “We’re all connected to each other … so each one plays a part in somebody else’s life … maybe you can’t really sit somebody down and teach them to be spiritual, but you can affect them, you can influence them." (Pune, India)  “I have 40 years ahead of me to be more spiritual and think about religion.” (Male, 17, Israel) "It’s important to be spiritual, I feel. But it doesn’t really affect me or anything." (Pune, India) “I also see that teenagers like me, why I’m not always spiritual is because I don’t always want to be spiritual, because I resist it sometimes.” (Female, 18, South Africa) “Being spiritual is believing in things that are not real, intangible, that cannot be perceived by our senses, but that you know exist.” (Male, 14, Peru) next

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