Including today, there are 41 days left in 2017. This is the time to recommit and recenter. I know that it can feel like this is the time to put your own needs on the back burner and wait until the busyness of the season is over to focus, once again, on your Soul’s guidance. But that would waste the precious opportunity that this season brings to reflect, to release what no longer serves you, and to prepare, so that when 2018 begins, you are ready to create what you are meant to birth next year.
But staying committed to your Soul during a time when it’s so easy to drown in to-do lists does take effort. It requires you to set the intention that you will not forget yourself this season, and that you will create time for YOU to be in stillness with your Soul.
Asking yourself the simple, yet profound, question, “What do I long for this season?” can give you great insights from your Soul (see Follow-up for simple meditation). Please note that this question is NOT about what you long for your family, or any other person. Instead focus on what YOU long for. Just YOU.
I know this can be hard when you’re so accustomed to put your loved one’s needs first, but for this exercise it is essential that you focus on YOU. There will be plenty of time for you to tend to your loved ones, so don’t worry that this means you will be ignoring them.
For example, when my coach asked me this question, I immediately thought of how I wanted my family to experience the season. I thought to myself:
I want my family to feel loved
I want them to experience our cultural traditions.
I want my daughters to get along.
My coach had to nudge me back to focus on me, and once I refocused, this is some of what came to me:
I long for stillness.
I long for reflection time.
I long for sacred ritual.
I realized that this was my Soul’s guidance on what I needed these last days of the year. I knew that if I followed this guidance I would be ready to share more of my light in the New Year instead of feeling like I had to recuperate from the holidays. Following my Soul’s guidance isn’t impossible, but it does take focus and discipline (as in being a disciple to your Soul).
For instance, we celebrated our Chicago Thanksgiving this past weekend (we travel to NC for Thanksgiving #2 later this week). On Saturday I woke up so excited that our four college kids were en route. I’d already done a lot of cleaning and preparing during the week, but there were still some final touches I wanted to get done so the house felt extra special for my kids when they arrived home.
But the morning would be the only time I had to myself. I walked downstairs forced myself to sit and ponder this dilemma. I could finish some of the final house cleaning and organizing, which would undoubtedly make the house look pristine OR I could skip that, and instead make myself a warm tea, sit in my sun room, and commune with my Soul, in preparation for the day.
I admit that if I had not already reflected on what my Soul longs for I probably would have said a quick prayer, and gotten to work. I’m sure I would have been very proud of myself about the house, but pretty soon I would have felt disappointed, and maybe even frustrated, when I realized my kids didn’t really notice and were just happy to be home. And at some point might have even felt resentful of my family because I had been in giving mode all day and desperately needed time for me.
Instead, because I had already asked myself this important question of what I longed for this season, I followed my Soul’s guidance. As I sat in the sun room I cherished the silence. I looked out the windows and my heart filled with gratitude. I also received some important insights from my Soul, not only about our Thanksgiving and how to make it more special, but about the direction of my work.
Our Thanksgiving was beautiful and I was so much more present because I took the time to follow my Soul’s guidance. And I know this is something I have to keep doing as these last days of 2017 continue to unfold.
In the great scheme of things, choosing to spend time with my Soul on Thanksgiving morning wasn’t very hard and might not seem very important, but in actuality, it was a radical act. Because the easy thing to do, the familiar thing, would have been to clean, to organize, to get busy. The revolutionary act was to stop, to pause, to spend time with my Soul and RECEIVE in a day where many, especially moms, tend to just DO.
And paradoxically taking this time to receive actually made me more generous and giving. This is one of the mot important values of committing to our Soul– all of our best qualities become enhanced.
So my dears, it’s your turn, What do you long for this season?
Have the courage to ask yourself (really asking your Soul) this question and then follow the guidance that comes. Not only will you feel more joyful and fulfilled, you will be more ready to be powerful earth angel next year. And our world desperately needs that.
Many Blessings,
Lisa
ps If you’re feeling ready to receive ongoing help with following your Soul’s guidance so you step into the evolution of your life’s work next click here to book a private Breakthrough Session with me.
Audio version of blog
Follow-Up
First, create some sacred space. This can be as simple as imagining a circle of light around you, or you can play some beautiful music, light a candle, hold a crystal, or whatever feels sacred to you. Remember that your Soul wants to help you and will give you the guidance you are seeking. So trust that it will come at the right time, which may be now or at a later moment.
So lets begin.
Bring the palms of your hands over your heart center and take some nice cleansing breaths. Then ground yourself by visualizing beautiful Mother Earth underneath your feet. You can even imagine strong roots of light going down your legs and out the bottoms of your feet deep into the earth. Then say something like this:
Beautiful Soul,
What do I long for this season? What do I long for this season? What do I long for this season?
Just listen and be open. You might receive a feeling, a word, a memory, a symbol. Write it down in your your journal. If you don’t receive anything trust that the guidance will become clear to you in the right time and in the right way
Blessings and love,
Lisa
Audio version of Follow-Up