Feeding the Soul!
This morning I woke up - the first thing to be thankful for - although having said that, I did spend most of the night awake. No details needed for why but it led to my first plan of the day. Change the plan. There’s no way that the original one would work on 5 hours of broken sleep! Fix myself with a caffeinated coffee ( a rare occurrence as small amounts of both coffee and wine aren’t always the most helpful to me! ), run a hot bath and read a magazine. I’ve been learning recently about looking after myself, being kind to myself - not just focusing on what’s good for the spirit and soul but investing in my body’s needs too. It’s something that I find can be a challenge as taking rest when there is so much to do can feel like an indulgence. But my body is my allie. If it’s in good shape, well rested and enjoying healthy choices in the food and exercise department then it’s going to work with me better! So today, having set my course to prioritise healthy living this September, I decided to listen and take heed. And that’s when my day changed. I found myself reading about 2 women who I happen to find inspiring creatively and boom, something lifted. Leaving the self pity right there in the bath I felt a surge of enthusiasm to initiate an idea which I have been pondering for a long time.
The point is that if I had doggedly continued with plan A then I would potentially have had a fairly miserable day and applied myself to a list of tasks ineffectively. Our creativity can be about the areas of skill that we are pursuing but at another level if we live creatively too we can find a perspective on life that refreshes us in all kinds of ways. For me this morning, breaking out of the routine sparked my creative juices and motivated me to try something new.
Making choices about how to use our time can feel like a responsibility as time is a gift. It is easy to waste and in pursuit of satisfying our physical and emotional needs we can sometimes spend it on things that don’t really cut it. It can be like eating fast food - we are looking for a quick fix to tiredness or boredom and in hind-sight that Netflix series really didn’t scratch the itch! Maybe it met the immediate need but not the lasting one.
At the beginning of the summer I spent some time asking the Lord what I should give myself to as I was just at the start of an 11 week break from school. I was really tired but wanted to feel the summer was going to be well spent and effective. What I heard surprised me. I felt the Lord saying, ‘ Feed your soul’. It had been a particularly difficult year as on top of a fairly hectic work schedule I was supporting some family situations that were extremely challenging. God is so kind. He wants us to enjoy our life. John 10 says ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’ It took me a while to figure out how to feed my soul. I knew that there were some things that would just be re discovering the me-ness of me; those particular things that spark joy in me that usually get submerged by the ought to’s of life. They look different for each one of us but how refreshing even to be reminded that these things matter to God. He designed us so uniquely and he is delighted when we enjoy being fully ourselves and feeling fully alive. As I tentatively embraced some of these things the colour began to invade the sepia existence of the previous months and it became a summer of dreams. The simplest of things can feed the soul and I indulged in beautiful views, books, cycle rides, creativity, cold seas, food with friends, family, family and more family and it felt so good! But right at the centre of all those things I also found I was connecting with the heart of God and his life was filling me with a new zeal for his presence and his word. Not as another ought to but as a fresh discovery of joy in knowing him and discovering there is yet more to know.
My personal challenge now is to continue to carry what I have learnt into the new work season. And so I have been reminded this morning - it’s not about furrowing the brow and persisting regardless of my needs. It’s about working out how to enjoy being fully alive and taking care of my body and soul so that all that I am doing, whether work or leisure, can be fulfilling and purposeful and most importantly, centred and rooted in a life invading, heart reviving relationship with the One who knows me better than I know myself!
And my challenge to you is to step back and look at your life and ask, ‘Are you being kind to yourself?’ Have you allowed yourself to discover those things that make you feel fully alive? I guarantee that if you take some time to do so you won’t be disappointed!