10

Prescriptions for Living a Soul-Filled Life:

1.
The Truth And Nothing But
We "search our soul" when we need to find answers for life's deep questions. The soul is the
seat of
our own truth and is a demand for it. We must seek the truth and tell
it. Skate
by the truth as your soul knows it, and sooner or later, you'll be back
to re-visit
the subject you avoided. The soul settles for nothing less than the
truth
laid bare. The truth may not always be the easiest path to chose, but
it's the
simplest, much less complicated than trying to keep track of which story
you've
spun in order to avoid being found out.

2.
Embrace Nature
Live close to the earth and you'll know its
soul.
When you know the soul of nature, you'll know your own. Spend time in
the natural
world and allow yourself to connect with all living things and you will
find your
place in the order of life. You will see yourself as a part of
nature, no
more and no less than the stars and the trees. The soul rests in the
natural world.
Allow this world to breathe you. Feel its rhythm as your own heartbeat,
for it
is.

3.
Dive In To Your Experience
The soul is a junkie for
experience.
It has no preference for pain or joy — just a demand that we experience
whatever
is true in the moment. When grief or sadness are upon you, feel them,
experience
them. Through these harder emotions, new doors open and great freedom
enters. When joy and passion are present, live them out loud. The soul is a
glutton for
living with gusto!

4.
Live On The Edge
"Man is so made that when
anything
fires his soul, impossibilities vanish." ~Jean De La Fontaine —
Live out to the edges of your life. That's where the soul thrives. The
soul
seeks possibilities that can only be found beyond what is already known,
safe
and comfortable. It does not understand the meaning of "impossible."

What is already known is already known. To the soul, the "juice" lies
in the unknown, where all things are possible. The soul calls us to come
to the
edge, then go beyond. Then go beyond again. And again.

5.
Learn To Dance In The Rain
There will be times in your
life when
the sun doesn't shine. Dance anyway. There will be times when life is
painful.
Dance with your pain. The soul is naturally drawn to the dark, tight
places
inside. Its job is to expand those places so the light can shine into
and through
them. Dance with whatever cards you're dealt, then tell the truth
about it.
The soul is nothing if not an excellent dancer. Give it the dance floor
and step
aside! My friend just lost her 48 yr. old son, Matthew, to a liver
disease brought
on by chronic alcoholism. This brave woman held her son as he lay dying a
premature
death brought about by his addiction. Her heart broken, she is now
planning his
"fun" funeral, complete with bagpipes and a wake held at his favorite
bar. She is dancing with her broken heart because her soul demands that
this is
how she is to send her son off to the great beyond. She is as resolute
and grounded
as I've ever known her to be, all within 12 hours of her son's death.
She is dancing
in the rain of her tears and sadness, and in an odd way, it is bringing
her a
new form of liberation.

6.

Declare A "Lily" Day
According to Huffington Post's,
Anne Naylor, "On a Lily Day, there is nothing I should or feel I
have
to do, unless I really want to. It is a bit like having a holiday at
home
without the discomforts of travel and facilities that do not meet my
expectations.
And it is just as refreshing, potentially more enriching and it does not
cost
anything. It is a Day to be available to and nurture my inner spirit."

and I would add "soul." Read Anne's wonderful Lily Day post here.
Give yourself permission to have a Lily Day at regular intervals!

7.
Daily Doses Of Solitude, Stillness, And Meditation
To
meditate is
to enter the soul's inner temple. Here, you'll hear the soul's whisper. Meditation
is like drinking water after crawling through the desert. It quenches
the soul's
thirst for silence and stillness. Start slowly, 10 minutes daily.
Gradually
build up to a minimum of 30 minutes/day. Solitude and stillness are the
soul's
saving grace.

8.
Keep A Journal
Having kept a journal for over 30 years,
looking
back, I see that many of the same questions are with me today as 30
years ago,
I'm just on a different turn of the wheel. I'm taking a deeper cut, more
surrendered
to the wisdom unfolding as my life. All of this comes through my writing
as I
see my soul's process over the long arc of time expressed on the pages
of my journal.
Your journal is a living document that you were here, you lived a
life, you
loved, you lost, you learned. Be sure to record your dreams, which are
the language
of the soul.

9.
Love Unconditionally
At the end of the day, what it all
comes down
to is how much did you love? Were you a lover of life, the world? Did
you love
with a big, wide, open, generous heart? Did you love without conditions?
This
is what will matter when you come to the finish line. The soul is
here to learn
to love it all, even and perhaps especially, those things the ego thinks
are unlovable.
Love the unlovable parts of yourself and others and your soul will find
peace.

10.
Honor The Sacred
To the soul, every thing is sacred. Every
moment,
every experience, every blade of grass, every bug that crawls, baby that
cries,
tear that's shed, gesture of love, act of kindness ... it's all
sacred.
To honor the sacred in every moment is to live out the mission of the
soul. "To
live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that
is bad
around us, is itself a marvelous victory." --Howard Zinn