But truly that isn’t what I am talking about. I don’t mean to encourage entitlement, or a sense of being better than. In fact, the opposite is true. I am inviting each of us to make spending time with our Soul a priority so we can GIVE MORE, but in a way that is authentic and brings us joy and fulfillment. I truly believe that this is how it’s supposed to be–that whatever true, soul-led longing we have in our heart was put there by Spirit. And that the most SELFLESS thing we can do is dedicate time to realigning with our Soul so we can be led to our true path of service.
However, this is hard, especially for women, especially for mothers and/or caretakers. It can feel like the whole world depends on us and we simply don’t have time to devote to our Soul relationship. I totally understand this. Even though I help my clients with this, and write about it in my book, it still requires effort (and courage) to keep making my relationship with my Soul a priority.
And one of my biggest tests comes in the summer. I love the summer, the warm weather, the outings, the extra time with my kids. AND it brings me great anxiety. You see my whole routine gets thrown upside down. Any illusion that I had about this being easier when my kids were older has evaporated. Yes, it’s a different type of mothering, but it’s mothering nonetheless.
My two oldest daughters come home from college and it’s great (I mean I went through so much grief when they went away) but with their arrival come all sorts of challenges. For instance, I have to figure out:
“Do they have a curfew, and if so, what time?” (they don’t have a curfew in college so this requires negotiation)
“Do I stay up and wait for them?” (the answer, I’ve realized, is yes. I just can’t sleep if they’re out late)
“When they are getting ready in the morning to go to work can I just stay in bed?” (the answer is generally no. I am a light sleeper, and I wake up, so inevitably I start helping them with something).
Sigh!
Then there’s my youngest daughter, the 18 year old, who will be starting college in the Fall. I know she will need a lot of help this summer preparing for those changes (not to mention my own sadness about her “leaving the nest”). And my two boys, well, they have their own transitions. Added to that, my husband Greg, who is a teacher, is home for the summer. Yay! I am so excited. He works so hard throughout the year, and I really look forward to the extra time together. And yet, this is also quite a change to the regular routine.
Of course, the summer also brings wonderful moments of connection with my family–special walks with Greg, deep conversations with my daughters, who are now young adults, and playful, relaxing time with my boys– that really can’t happen at any other season in the year. So I know this is quite a sacred and special time, and I don’t want to miss it.
But there is no denying that the summer is a challenge for me, and it is very common that by the end of August I am feeling frazzled and disconnected. Although, I always manage to continue with my daily meditation practice, my ongoing, Soul connection throughput the day, slowly but surely starts to slip away, as I give my time to everyone else but me.
But this year my Soul has been preparing me. It has been very clear that I can’t afford to ignore it this summer. Spirit simply has too many plans for me. Plans that will lead me to serve, uplift, and love the world even more deeply (including my family). And I can’t let the close relationship I’ve built with my Soul suffer this summer.
And just to make sure I do this I’ve been facing some health issues that are FORCING me to be a lot more mindful about my self-care, particularly my eating. Through this new health journey I’ve come to see how eating represents how we nurture ourselves, not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally too. And in my life there have been so many times when I have nurtured myself last. This is one of the legacy burdens my mother passed on to me, and I know was passed on to her, by her mother.
I am not suggesting that Spirit is punishing me by sending these health challenges. But I know, that just like when I got pneumonia a few years ago, this is another way that I am being led to heal old wounds. And that as I heal them, I am ensuring that I don’t pass them on to my daughters. Dealing with this hasn’t been easy, even knowing that it’s all Divinely led, I’ve had plenty of angry, overwhelmed moments, but when I am with my Soul I can see the beauty of the plan, and I am grateful.
As I help my own clients through their fears and guilt about prioritizing Soul time I’ve come to understand that it’s very hard to do this alone. The truth is that left to our own devices we will often keep strengthening patterns that we actually are ready to let go of. And it takes great courage to recognize that we need help and then seek it out. Because I know this I have my own life coach, and I am also part of an online group that is my support. This online class is made up of women from all around the country who are also wellness professionals and are committed to following their heart’s guidance as they expand their reach. It’s really quite spiritual work.
The amazing thing is that
I’ve never met any of them or our teacher in person. But the ongoing support has been tremendous. We keep each other honest and lovingly accountable. And that makes all the difference.And that group was my inspiration in starting my own online class. The idea being that together we will keep ourselves moving forward this summer, even as we enjoy our family and this wonderful season.
Perhaps, like me, your Soul is encouraging you to enhance your Soul relationship this summer. And for some of you this class will be the support you need. You can read more about it below. And I invite you to have the courage to trust that if your Soul is leading you to this class (or any other experience for that matter) that you will be supported by Spirit as you take that step.
Blessings and love,
Lisa
Follow-up:
If this resonated with you I invite you to use your journal to answer the following prompts. I encourage you to first invoke your loving Soul by placing your hands over your heart and then silently asking your Soul to blend more fully with you as you do this inner exploration.
What comes up for you as you think of prioritizing your relationship with your Soul?
Is it fear and/or excitement?
If fear shows up, ask that part (or those parts), “What are they afraid would happen if you prioritized spending time with your Soul?”
Before ending your inner journey bring your hands to your heart again and invite your Soul to infuse any fearful parts with its unconditional love and acceptance.