sacred: adjective, something deemed worthy of respect and honor (and observance); dedicated to or set apart as holy for religious purposes (relating to rituals, rites, practices, or objects for use in worshiping an entity).

Sacred exudes having and displaying a sense of respect with awe and reverence in the mix. It’s all about the person doing the respecting, not the object or ritual upon which this emotion is projected or reflected. A candle, a building, the act of Holy Communion? They truly mean nothing on their own. Zip. Nada. (To those that say communion is always holy, I’d argue that without knowledge and belief, it’s merely a wafer and grape juice/wine.) A relationship, a home, building a business with heart? Ditto.

We claim something as sacred and assign to it that elevated meaning. We first have to believe in its sacredness. When we believe something is sacred, we bestow upon it heightened significance, symbolism, and power.

Synonyms to this word include “holy” but the opposite of sacred isn’t “unholy.” A better antonym is “casual.” If we treat a thing or an event or a person with casualness, then getting a replacement or doing away with it entirely is easy.

My grandmother's ring is sacred to me because of what it represents.

I have a ring from my grandmother that holds for me an element of sacredness, and I treat it as such. In what has become a ritual, I look at her initials engraved on the underside before wearing it. I think of her life—the good, the bad, the mellowing in her later years. I wear it carefully, respectfully, lovingly. If you saw it you’d see a cool vintage ring, period. Nothing sacred, for sure. You’d likely never notice the tiny hand-etched initials, or if you did, not be able to decipher them. It doesn’t own its sacredness; I impart it.

A wedding ring, on its own, is just a ring. We make the the round band sacred. (Whether or not we actually adhere to its contractual, covenant bond speaks to how sacred {or not} we hold our promise, the ring, and what society says marriage symbolizes.)

What and who are you treating casually that you should instead view as sacred? Your business partner? Coworkers? Spouse? Child? Parents? Your dwelling place that you complain about for its faults or shortcomings instead of being grateful for all it does provide and offer you? (Applies to people too.) Your health? Your work? Your talents? Your community? And on and on it goes.

Stop looking at your life and the people and things in it casually. Enlighten your perspective and extend a sacred attitude to those people and places and possibilities within your life-sphere. Do you look at your significant other/your business agreements/your promise given as sacred? Do your actions match your words?

Don’t diminish the definition of “sacred,” but take inventory of who and what currently resides in your life that you need to “upgrade” to a more sacred level. How would your life look and feel if you treated most of the people and things and happenings in it as sacred? (And how would they respond? And what kind of radical sacred-cycle might that induce, produce, and manifest into your life, your community, and the world?)