Think about your typical day. You may work, do some chores around the house, go to a kid’s activity, possibly exercise and maybe, just maybe have a few minutes of downtime. Then you go to bed and wake up the next day and do it all over again. This cycle seems to repeat itself until we reach our breaking point and we say enough is enough. If you are like me, I love to take vacations and they are great therapy. They also do a great job breaking up some of the monotony of our lives. I would suggest, however, that there is another way, to break up some of the monotony and give you a greater sense of peace and purpose throughout your typical day (and it costs a lot less). This may seem overly simplistic, but the answer is taking care of your soul.

For the sake of clarity, your soul is that part of you that makes you – you (i.e. your emotions, personality and how you think). So how can take care of our soul?

First, we must recognize the many distractions that fill our time—that actually convince us we do not have time. Consumption of media is one big culprit. When we arrive home, feeling fried, watching TV or surfing social media seems like a break we need to give ourselves, but it can leave us feeling overstimulated, frustrated and almost sick (remember the recent story about the 2 year old who was killed by an alligator while on vacation at Disney World?)  This does not feed our soul.

Socializing is fun, and often involves genuine, face-to-face contact. That is important, but if we are telling ourselves we just do not have the time for daily spiritual practice (which is often associated with feeding one’s soul), it is time to consider putting social activities in their proper context.

As a culture, we spend more time focusing on the body than the soul. You might play intramural sports, work out at the gym, walk, and jog or ride your bike, and these are all great things, but they should not be to the exclusion of a daily practice of taking care of your soul. This may include activities such as listening to music and reading a book (e.g. the bible) that inspires you and helps you become more mature, wiser and confident in who God made you to be.

In addition, I have found that when we find ourselves feeling panicky, stressed, overwhelmed, or even feeling a little hopeless (symptoms of your soul needing some care), the one practice that would dramatically help, being quiet!

We need quiet.

It’s such a simple thing, isn’t it? But many of us are genuinely suffering from a lack of it. This can even cause us to try to pray, and then give up. Why? Because we’re in such dire need of quiet that when we first allow ourselves some silence, the clamor of our worries and fears, the ones that have been deferred while we were filling every moment of the day with noise and activity, crowd forward to fill that space. The sudden noise in your head can be overwhelming.

Don’t let that stop you. Prioritize quiet. Start with one minute a day, the five, with the goal of working your way up to fifteen. Let your worries be replaced with thoughts of hope and faith until your worries fade, then pray, and listen for God’s calming voice. The most important thing in that moment of silence is not what you pray for or how you do it, but the opportunity to connect with God and have your soul nourished.

I would also suggest looking around you for applications of the inspirations you have read about or listened too. The more you see it, the more you will come to watch for it with hope and expectancy and this will give you greater confidence as your approach each day. And next time you find yourself moving toward a breaking point, by having a soul that has been regularly nourished and cared for, you will find yourself having a first instinct of being able to say “All is well with my Soul.”

God Bless,

Doug Hedrick