The current year will end in two weeks. If you are interested in transformation, the New Year represents a time to take stock of your life, determine what changes to make, and set a priority. Make that priority feeding your soul.
No… It is not a time to choose priorities.
Technically, you can only have one priority, and it’s the most important thing. You can have other things that are important to you but only one priority.
Most people talk about their priorities. And they might have a few things they deem important. Yet, only one of them can be THE priority.
With this in mind, make feeding your soul your one and only priority this year. Focus on revolving your life around doing more of the things that make you feel excited, passionate, and alive while, at the same time, raising your consciousness and that of the world.
These types of activities align with the desires of your soul. That’s why they feel so good. And if you make engaging in such activities your priority, you will feed your soul and, as a result, change the quality of your life.
How Often Do You Feed Your Soul?
If you are like most people, you don’t know how much of your day, week, month, or year you spend feeding your soul. But you need to have this information. Otherwise, you don’t know if you are or are not focusing on caring for your soul.
The late Rabbi David Cooper, author of God is a Verb,, suggested listing the things or activities that feed your soul. These could be writing, skiing, listening to music, hiking, playing with your dog, watching the sunset, singing, learning, smelling the roses in your garden, painting, or almost anything else.
Next, determine the percentage of time you currently participate in those soul-aligned activities. Consider each day or week to start. Do you spend 10 percent of your days or weeks feeding your soul…or more…or less?
What Does Starving Your Soul Cost You?
Considering what something costs when deciding to purchase or participate in an activity is common. For example, the cost of horseback riding might be prohibitive even if you love horses and believe riding would make your soul happy. Or buying a house on the beach might be unaffordable based on your monthly income level, yet, you know, walking on the beach every day would make your spirit sing.
On the other hand, it’s unusual to consider what not doing something will cost. But that decision does, indeed, have a cost. For instance, what does it cost you not to ride horses or live near the ocean? Maybe the cost is calculated in happiness, peace, environment, or even connection to nature or Source.
Once you have determined the percentage of time you spend on soul-feeding activities, consider what it is costing you to starve your soul. (If you don’t participate in activities that feed your soul 50 percent or more each month, you are starving it.)
Where will you be in a year…or five years…if you don’t start prioritizing soul-aligned activities? What will you feel or be like in a decade if you continue starving your soul?
And what does it mean to you that you aren’t feeding your soul? Perhaps it means you don’t love yourself enough to care for your spiritual nature. Or it could mean you put everyone else’s needs before your own.
These are costs, too. For instance, not loving yourself and putting others first has an impact on your level of self-esteem, your health, and your relationships.
Does Time Deficiency Syndrome Deter Your Soul-Aligned Efforts?
With your new insight into how much time you spend feeding your soul, answer this question: Are your decisions about how you spend your time related to not having enough of it?
Too many humans suffer from what Rabbi Cooper called Time Deficiency Syndrome or TDS. We spend our time on the things we have to, must, or are expected to do. After that, we believe we have no time for the activities that make us happy or expand our consciousness—those that are soul-aligned.
TDS results in doing tedious things. TDS is pronounced “tedious.” (Say TDS aloud, and you’ll hear!) If you suffer from TDS, you end up doing tedious things rather than those that feed your soul.
Take a moment and imagine participating in tedious activities. Then, visualize doing things that align with your soul’s wants and needs. Notice the difference in how you feel both emotionally and physically.
Now, consider the quality of your life when you only do the tedious—what you have to do, are supposed to do, or are expected to do. Compare that to the quality of your life when you do things that raise your consciousness, increase your energy, and level up your daily happiness and fulfillment.
There’s a distinct difference in your quality of life when you feed your soul, is there not?
How Much Time Do You Want to Spend Feeding Your Soul?
Let’s reverse-engineer this process. Determine how much time you would like to spend doing the things that nurture your soul. Determine a percentage of your day, week, or month on soul-aligned activities. Or consider how many hours you want to spend on soul care each day, week, or month.
If you committed to spending that amount of time feeding your soul and kept that commitment, what would that mean to you? How would incorporating regular and consistent self-care into your schedule change the quality of your life? How would it alter your experience of life?
Maybe you already spend a desired amount of time nurturing your soul. That’s awesome! But what does that fact mean? What does it say about you, your values and commitments, and how you feel about yourself? What does it tell you about your priority or commitment? How does it impact your life?
But if you’re not consistently and regularly spending a desired amount of time feeding your soul, it’s time to consider why. What does it mean that soul care is not your priority? Think about your values, commitments, and self-view and how they pertain to living in soul alignment. What does this knowledge—and living in this manner—feel like in your heart? How does it impact your experience of life?
Now answer this question again: How much time would you like to spend doing things that nurture your soul?
Feed Your Soul Now—Not Later
Once you have an answer, it’s time to look at how you spend your time and begin scheduling the activities you know to feed your soul.
If you use your time doing things that don’t feed your soul, you’ll have regrets. And you don’t want to die with regrets.
We humans get so busy with our physical lives that we forget we are also spiritual beings. As such, we must care for both aspects of our nature.
Only when we get sick or someone close to us dies do we begin thinking about what we could’ve spent or would have preferred to spend our time on. We leave what should be a priority—feeding our souls—for the future.
It’s time to stop doing that because the ability to enjoy the future is not guaranteed. Stop thinking you will do the things that nourish your soul later. Please don’t put them off until the kids graduate high school, you feel more energetic, or you retire.
Think about it… When you feel forced to slow down or even stop doing your normal activities—like when you get sick—your life does not collapse. That’s what you fear, but life goes on when you quit your constant doing. The same is true if you make nourishing your soul a priority.
Live in the present moment. The future doesn’t exist. That means that the items on your feed-my-soul list must take place in the now.
Plus, when you feed your soul in the present, you experience your connection with Source and yourself. There is no other time when you can have those types of connections.
Also, nourishing your soul now—not later—releases you from the tedious aspects of life. Therefore, the quality of your life changes considerably.
Prioritize Soul Care
Don’t bother setting other types of goals this year. Instead, prioritize caring for your soul. Make it your priority to feed your soul regularly and consistently, and then watch how your results change over the next 12 months. Notice how the quality of your life—your experience of life—improves.
Commit to at least an hour of soul-nurturing activities each day. That’s the minimum daily requirement of daily soul care.
What will you do daily that makes your heart happy…makes your spirit sing…jazzes you…floats your boat…is in soul alignment? Now, put that on your calendar. Create a way to track the time you spend on such activities, such as with a habit app.
Also, promise yourself you will spend a minute being present every day. If you can spend more time present, great! But at least commit to one minute of presence. In that time, you can connect with your soul or Source.
And take time off each week to nurture your soul. Observance of the Sabbath does that. But you don’t have to devote an entire day to soul care; even four hours is enough. During that time, sit silently, go out in nature, read a book, study, or spend time with friends. Do something that is not tedious and isn’t work.
Finally, schedule a weeklong spiritual retreat every year. Consider this your annual sabbatical. While the Sabbath is a day of rest dedicated to God, a sabbatical is several Sabbaths put together. During this week, devote yourself to your soul and feed it a fabulous diet.
How will you prioritize feeding your soul and living in soul alignment in the New Year? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post with a friend or on social media.
Interested in how to change your beliefs and identity? Let’s chat. Get on my calendar here. Or join the Inspired Creator Community for group personal and spiritual growth coaching every month to help you become an Inspired Creator.
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