The Living Fully Challenge

12 Months to a Fully-Lived Life

Month #6

Welcome to month #6 of the Living Fully Challenge. I hope over the last month you managed to find a way to approach your job, career or profession from a new perspective, and that you have gotten in touch with your soul’s purpose — your special talent or ability — and found a way to put it to use in the area of work and career. By that I mean that you have found a way to tap into that spark of Divinity within you that has something unique to offer others through your work. It’s lovely to go to work everyday when you feel that what you do fits into a “higher” framework or that it ties in some way into a spiritual purpose. This makes all those hours you spend at the office or in front of a computer or doing whatever it is you do to earn a living feel enlivening. And that’s what this challenge is all about.

Plus, I hope you had a really great time doing all those things you’ve always wanted to do but hadn’t yet done. If you are anything like me, your list was probably so long that you are still trying to fit all those activities in, as well you should be. Keep on going with that exercise even now that month #5 has passed. It’s a blast, and you should keep having fun and not waiting to enjoy yourself but doing everything you want to do now in this very moment. That’s right . . . living every moment, right now. Don’t put off any of those great and exciting things you want to do now or in the future. If you do them now or soon rather than waiting for the right time or perfect situation, you’ll feel alive all the time.

This month I’ve got another exercise that’s sure to get your blood flowing, and I can’t wait for you to try it now that you’re primed and ready!

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 #6

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

Moving on to the area of spiritual practice and relationship with God, this month you must pick a spiritual practice and stick with it for 30 days. However, you must begin this spiritual practice with a goal in mind as well.

First, you have to pick a practice. You can choose to pray once or twice a day. You can decide to offer up gratitude to God each hour when your watch chimes. You can meditate for 20 minutes a day. You can attend church or synagogue services. You can light a candle every night and meditate on its flame. You can go to confession. You can make up your own ritual, such as rising each day with the sun and walking in silence. You can take on the Kabbalistic practice of hitbodedut, walking and talking to God. You can do loving acts of kindness. You can try placing God before you always.

It matters little what practice or ritual you choose. Just choose one and practice it, preferably every day. Once a week would be okay if you were doing this exercise for a year, but in a month you’ll only manage to do it four times. Therefore, commit to once a day, and if you are concerned about finding time, keep your spiritual practice short. It doesn’t have to take long to connect with God. The Divine Presence is always close at hand, waiting for us to reach out.

There are lots of short spiritual practices you can do or create. For example, I like touching the mezuzah on the doorway to my house as I go in and out. It holds the most important prayer in the Jewish religion. It reminds me to think of God, and as I touch it I feel a connection to God. I also like saying a prayer before I begin my work; I commit my time to the service of God and others. I also like taking just five minutes before I begin working to get quiet and to meditate; I then ask if there is something I need to know or do that will help me connect with God and make my work align with God’s desires or Divine plan. Plus, I enjoy writing down five things for which I feel grateful each night before I go to sleep. I thank God for each of these Divine gifts, and that helps me see how God works in my life daily. None of these practices take much time.

Second, before you decide upon your practice be sure that it will fulfill your spiritual goal for the month. This means you need to be clear about your goal. What do you want to have achieved by the end of the month or long term by incorporating this practice into your life? Do you want to feel the Divine Presence each time you do this practice? Do you want to see the Divine Presence in your life every day? Do you want to get in touch with the Divinity within yourself? Do you want to feel closer to God? Do you want to learn to pray? Do you want to see God’s hand in your life?

Whatever you want, be sure that you believe you can accomplish it by following through on your commitment to your spiritual practice. Even if your belief wavers, have a strong intention to achieve your goal. Be certain that by simply going through the motions you will eventually fill your empty practice with the spiritual quality you want to add to your life.

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.

In each area, this month do something you are afraid of doing. That’s right, feel the fear, face it, and do whatever it is you are afraid of anyway.

Here’s the point of this month’s Exercise B: Fear stops us from living fully. Every time we don’t do something, because we are too afraid, we hamper our ability to live to our fullest potential. And we stop our own growth as well. We achieve and grow the most when we move through our fear.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a wise Jewish teacher, said, “All of life is a very narrow bridge. The main thing is not to make ourselves afraid.” In other words, our lives are not as secure and safe as we think. If we were to stop and ponder, for instance, if the chair upon which we are sitting will hold us, we might decide that it is not really very solid at all. In fact, it’s just a bunch of molecules vibrating in space. Yet, we trust that it is solid and will hold our weight. We trust that the fifth floor of a building is just as solid and safe, but it also consists simply of molecules vibrating in space. In fact, the chair and the floor do hold our weight. The more we think about things, though, the more we MAKE ourselves afraid even when no reason for fear exists.

Anything could happen to us at any moment. We could get hit by a bus as we cross the street. We could drown while enjoying a swim in our back yard pool. We could die in an earthquake or tornado. Indeed, all of life is a symbolic narrow bridge hanging over a precipice, and if we spend a lot of time pondering this fact, we might truly make ourselves afraid. Thus, he cautions us: The main think is NOT to MAKE ourselves afraid.

And what if we are already afraid? We need to prove to ourselves that we have no need to be afraid. We need to feel the fear and do it anyway, because never do we feel more alive than when we overcome fear. There’s an exhilaration and joy and sense of accomplishment that can’t be matched by any other experience other than looking our fear in the face and saying, “I didn’t let you stop me from living my life to the fullest extent possible. And now I know I had nothing to fear but fear itself.” When we do this, we become strong and courageous and filled with life force energy. We become more alive than at almost any other time, because the experience is so freeing.

I do want to acknowledge that sometimes our fear is justified. However, even many justifiable fears come down to one basic fear — the fear of death. Is death worth fearing? The answer to this question depends upon your beliefs. What do you believe about death? Do you think it’s the end of everything? Do you believe there is life after death? Do you believe you are more than just your physical body? What you think and believe on this subject makes a huge difference in whether or not you have reason to fear death. If you believe you are a spiritual being having a physical experience and that your spiritual essence continues on after your physical body dies, then you have less — or no — reason to fear death. In which case, you can release many of your fears.

So, make a list of one thing you fear in each of the 12 categories. Then begin moving through those fears in some way one by one. Here are some examples of what you might try in a few categories:

If you are afraid of spending money you have saved for “emergencies,” spend just a little – maybe just $100. If you are afraid there won’t be enough money, try actually having too little money in your account for a week or two and see how you would manage. Discover how creative you could be until your next paycheck.
If you are afraid of being alone, take a time out from your relationship. You don’t have to actually get a divorce or break up with your significant other; just go away for a weekend or a week by yourself. Stay in a hotel and don’t see or talk to anyone. Just order room service. See what it is like to be alone.
If you afraid at work to ask for a raise, go ask for a raise. If you are afraid to leave a secure job for a new one or a different career, make the change now – or at least begin taking steps to do so now. Or go ask your boss for new responsibilities or a new position.
If you are afraid to begin a spiritual practice because of what it might actually be like to experience God, commit to that spiritual practice and begin doing it every day. (Hint, hint.)
If you would like to try rock climbing as a new exercise along with some friends but your fear of heights prevents you from doing so, go rock climbing.

You get the idea, I’m sure.

Face your fears.

You’ll find yourself, not some boogey man, staring back. Most of them are in your head. You MAKE yourself afraid. Look at your thoughts and your perceptions and decide how many of them are really valid and based in reality and how many of them can be changed simply by changing how you think about and see the world. And then go do the things that still cause you to feel afraid, so they don't hold you back — so you can experience a truly, fully lived life.

Please drop me an email and tell me how you are doing with the challenge and its exercises and assignments. I'd love to have you share your experiences with me.