12 Days of Valentine’s – Feed Your Soul

Welcome to Day 6 of 12 Days of Valentine’s Love Yourself! Today we’re talking about feeding your soul. For me, I think this is the hardest thing to do because it requires taking the time out to stop and really think about what you need to enrich your soul. The same way I have to stop and think through what I need to feed my family with food for the week, I need to stop and think about what I need to feed my soul. When my heart isn’t singing and I’m not laughing everyday, I know that I am NOT feeding my soul.

Up until today, most of what I have described in the 12 Days of Valentine’s has been prescriptive, meaning I have been bossy and told you exactly what to do. Today is different. How you feed your soul will be different for everyone – you have to stop and think about it this way: If you were to exist all alone, what would you need to do to feel fulfilled every day? As I mentioned above, I need to be laughing and buzzing with happiness everyday. At the moment, I get that by connecting with others online (I know, I know, I’m working on the “in real life” friends too!) and  reading blogs that make me laugh and books that teach me something new. I minimize television viewing and don’t really even watch the news these days – those 2 activities are soul sucking rather than soul nourishing. The rise in Reality TV has served to lower the quality of TV even more in recent years. I still keep up with what is going on in the world, but I am able to filter out the sensational spin that is put on the evening news by reading my news online.

You’ve probably noticed from what I’ve said already that I like the internet. Like many people in my generation, I am wired in to my phone or computer for many many hours a day. My challenge is to cut back time wasted online. Not productive time writing this blog, researching or catching up with friends, but the endless hours looking at silly memes and visual social networks. Of course they are fun, and fun is good, but their has to be a limit to everything.

So ask yourself what gets you going in the morning. Yes, I’m sure your kids are at the top of that list, but as I mentioned before, if you had to think about it in terms of making your own happiness without the help of anyone, how would you do this? That will answer how you feed your soul.

Think of words like meaning, adventure and especially purpose. If you (and I!) can find activities in our day that relate to any of those words, then we will be feeding our soul.

Do you make time in your busy days to feed your soul? I’d love to hear what you you do to feel enthused and meaningful in your life.