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The Living Fully Challenge
12 Months to a Fully-Lived Life
Month #11
Entering the second to last month of the Living Fully Challenge, pat yourself on the back for making it to the home stretch! If you’re feeling tired and ready to quit, don’t give up yet. I’ll tell you a secret: This month constitutes the last 30 days of hard work…and the assignments aren’t quite so difficult. So, don’t worry. You’ve come this far. You can make it to through to the end.
Plus, if you’ve been working the program, as they like to say in Alcoholics Anonymous, you should be finding yourself beginning to manifest a fully lived life in all areas of your life by now. I realize that you may not have been able to accomplish all that you desired in every area, but you will have at least gotten a start in them all – or in many of them – and that should mean that you are feeling more enlivened and more fulfilled in general. In addition, you should feel like your life has taken on a more orderly shape, it has a more spacious feel to it, and that should give you a sense of peace and satisfaction, two other characteristics of a fully-lived life.
After completing last month’s Exercise B, you should be seeing the spaces you’ve created filling with your heart’s desires. Or, maybe you’ve chosen to keep a few spaces empty, because you actually like having the space. Possibly, you are waiting for the right thing to place in the void, or you are still in the manifestation process. As long as you are visualizing, combining thought and feeling, and taking inspired action steps (as well as the necessary steps) to bring your dreams and desires into existence, they will indeed show up.
Plus, I hope you are feeling inspired by whatever you chose to learn last month. I always feel my horizons expanding and my perspectives and vision changing when I pursue some sort of continuing education. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I believe an old dog – or an dog of any age – has to constantly be learning something new to continue feeling alive. When we learn something new, we feel excited and energized. And that’s what living fully is all about.
Now, on to month #11. You’ll like this month. It allows you to slide right into month #12. Be determined. Be inspired. Be ready to complete the challenge and live your life fully in every aspect! You’re almost there! Before you think about next month, though, think about this month. That’s what month #11 is all about: Being present, right here, right now.
The Two Basic Monthly Assignments
Just as in past months, continue by, first, completing daily the two basic assignments. They continue to form the foundation of your living-fully practice.
Basic Assignment #1:
Take some deep breaths several times every day. The breath is the source of life. God breathed life into us. As we breathe in, we continue breathing in God’s exhale, and as we exhale God inhales. It’s a continuous circular breath from Creator to the created. Plus, without the breath, we die. Each breath gives our body what it needs to continue living. And the fact that we breathe without even thinking about it represents a miracle. So, breathe deeply and consciously as often as possibly, because the breath enlivens you! If you have a watch that beeps on the hour, I suggest you set it to do so, and each hour take a minimum of 10 deep, slow, conscious breaths.
Basic Assignment #2:
Each night before you fall asleep try to acknowledge at least one thing about your life and the way you lived it that day that you really appreciated or enjoyed. If you can't find at least one thing you appreciated or enjoyed, than commit to doing something different the next day - to doing one thing you can acknowledge the next night - something that puts a smile on your face - before you fall asleep. The reason for this exercise seems self-explanatory: If you aren’t doing anything that you can acknowledge as being enjoyable or that you sincerely appreciate, you aren’t living fully.
Assignment for Month #11
As you know, each month’s assignment is comprised of two exercises you will use for 30 days to help you live more fully. The first one will involve one area of your life. The second one will be applied to 12 general areas of your daily life – finance, romantic relationship, free time/fun, health/exercise, work/career, spiritual practice/relationship with God, friendship, relationship with self, relationship with family, continuing education, charity and care of the Earth, and commitments/responsibilities.
Exercise A
This month’s Exercise A involves charity and care of the Earth, and, like last month it doesn’t ask you to do too much. Simply devote at least one hour per week for the next four weeks to charity and care of the Earth.
Many of people have a hard time with the concept of charity, especially if they feel they don’t have enough money or resources themselves. Therefore, this topic deserves a bit of attention.
We are often told that if we give we will receive, and I am a big proponent of giving. However, while giving in order to get seems to be the first step in the process, don’t get stuck there.
From a spiritual perspective, giving connects you to God, the Ultimate Giver. On a spiritual level, your soul wants to connect to God, and giving allows you to do so by removing the separation between Giver and receiver (you). You become “like” God; you become a giver. When you are connected to God, you are, indeed, connected to the Divine flow of abundance.
Beyond this, give because it’s the right thing to do. In Judaism, the word used for “charity” is tzedakah, which uses the same root as the word tzedek, “righteous,” and tzaddik, “righteous person.” The point revolves around giving as a righteous act.
Caring for the Earth represents the right thing to do as well. She serves as our hostess and our home. We should be good guests. We should clean up after ourselves. We should take care of the space we inhabit. We should beautify the place we live. We should have respect for the environment that nurtures us; we should treat Mother Earth like respectful, well-behaved children.
So, even if you don’t have enough money yourself, you can offer a few pennies to the homeless person who has less than you or by donating your old books or clothing. You can give of your time at the homeless shelter by serving meals or by tutoring children at a school. You can offer your skills pro bono.
Many ways exist to give and to care for the Earth. You can volunteer to collect native seeds so they can be replanted or participate in a clean-up day at the beach. You can go on a walk and collect trash along the way. Begin recycling. Stop using disposable bags at the grocery store and bring a reusable one of your own.
Find one or more ways to give and care for the Earth, and add them into your life this month. You’ll be amazed at how great you’ll feel for having done so. And while you’re at it, feel grateful for the fact that you have so much to give and that the Earth provides so well.
Exercise B
Just like last month, apply this part of the month’s assignment to the following 12 general areas of your daily life — finance, romantic relationship, free time/fun, health/exercise, work/career, spiritual practice/relationship with God, friendship, relationship with self, relationship with family, continuing education, charity and care of the Earth, and commitments/responsibilities.
This month, you have a simple exercise – or maybe its simplicity makes it difficult. Be in the moment in each area of your life. Don’t think about the past. Don’t focus on the future. Just be in the now. Enjoy the present moment.
Remember the adage about the present: It’s a gift, that’s why it’s called “the present.” I was told that we only way can experience God in the moment, for God exists in each present, each now.
So, this month, no visualizing. Let that go for a while. Each time you catch yourself thinking about the past or the future, say, “Stop! Now I think about the present moment. Right now I am in the now.” Sounds simple. Sounds easy. Ah…try it for a day. Try it for an hour. Try it for a minute. You’ll see. This assignment might actually be your toughest one yet.
And why bother doing it? So you can enjoy each moment. So you can actually experience each area of your life as you live it. If you are in the past or in the future, you cannot experience your life. So, no matter if you are paying your bills or investing your money, on a date or making love, riding your bike or taking a walk, working out at the gym or going to the doctor for a visit, talking to a client or going on a job interview, praying or meditating, having lunch with a friend, reading a book, visiting your mother or talking to your sibling on the phone, taking a night class, volunteering at a local soup kitchen or going to the recycling center, or walking the dog or taking your child to school, be present. Be in the moment. Don’t be somewhere else at some other time. Don’t let your mind take you away. Experience what you are doing at that moment as fully as you can. And then you’ll know what being fully present in the moment feels like. And that’s a huge part of living your life fully as well.
Enjoy every moment!
As I mentioned last month, I'd really love it if you would send me a note telling me about your experiences using these exercises for the last 10 months. I'll be writing a book based on the Living Fully Challenge, and I would like to include real life examples from people's lives that have actually put the principles and exercises to use. So, if you'd like, send along a note telling me what has worked for you . . . or not . . . or what has been a struggle. Describe how you have felt when you have put the exercises each month into practice. If you want to remain anonymous, that's okay, too.
