Hello best life seekers!
Are you exercising and eating right but feel miserable and depleted? Are you anxious and upset and wondering why you don’t feel happy? Do you worry about things not working out and feel like the world is out to get you? Are you frustrated by the way your relationships are going?
Key question: What are you feeding your soul every day?
When we think about health, we think about taking care of our body. That means giving it nutritious food and physical activity. This is wonderful and it will positively impact your mood and sense of well-being. But your body isn’t the only thing that needs nourishing and exercising. Your mind, heart and spirit need nourishing for true well-being.
Soul Food
What we focus on grows. If you’ve spent a lifetime eating junk, your body will show that after a while. The same is true for the sustenance you give your mind and soul. If you consume fear-based news and violence, you can expect to feel fear, unease and worry. It’s garbage in = garbage out. You are not going to create peace and tranquility for yourself by feeding yourself pain, violence, anger and suffering. Nor will you find kindness, love and happiness by constantly taking in angry or depressing music, TV, movies and other media. Surrounding yourself with negative, unhappy people with an “I can’t” mentality will not help you reach your full potential or live a happy life.
Every day we are awake and active approximately 16 hours but our minds are processing information 24/7. Some of us watch what we eat but very few of us watch what our senses, and especially our minds, are consuming. Yet we wonder why we’re anxious and unhappy.
It’s like expecting to learn French by studying Korean.
We must feed our souls the food and nutrition we need to thrive while simultaneously avoiding the junk that will poison and make us suffer.
Every day are your feeding yourself that which makes you thrive as a person? Do you watch something that makes you laugh with joy, not with irony? Do you read about your heroes and those people who triumphed over adversity? Today, did you say hello to your colleagues and family members when you saw them or did you brush by them in a hurry? This morning did you wake up and realize what a miracle it is to even be alive? Are your conversations more about gossip and complaints than about what’s good or new in someone’s life?
We have trained ourselves to focus on the negative. Somehow it’s sexier than the positive. This awareness of risk and threat isn’t all bad but when it’s all we do, our lives lose balance and focus. It’s time to restore balance to our spirits, which translates into changes in our moods and thoughts. We’ve trained ourselves so well to think about our problems and challenges that we do it automatically and non-stop.
It’s time to learn how to see the good in our lives and focus on the ways others are kind to us while showing kindness to them. How can you expect others to smile at you or ask about your day when you don’t offer simple, sincere hellos or ask about their lives? These small interactions are food for the soul, build interpersonal connections and reaffirm our very humanity. In the areas of the world with the longest-lived and healthiest populations, known as Blue Zones, these daily interactions are a huge part of the reason for that longevity and well-being. In Italy, these everyday interactions are credited as the reason why men live as long as women – the only place in the world where they do so!
14 Soul Boosters
Here are some very easy ways to feed your soul every day. They don’t take much effort but they reap outsized rewards immediately.
- Listen to podcasts about people who have triumphed over adversity
- Listen to/read books about peace, happiness and calming the mind
- Find self-help and self-development books to develop yourself and your skills
- Volunteer in your community for causes that mean something to you
- Upon waking, be grateful for this life and the people you love
- Make it a point to say good-morning to those you live with and work with
- Smile when you see or greet people at home or work
- When you leave the office, say good-bye to others
- When you arrive home, say hello to those you live with
- Smile at your cashier at every shop or institution you visit
- If you watch TV, watch shows with characters you admire or who inspire you
- Learn how to meditate and practice daily
- If you are inclined toward prayer, make it a daily habit
- Find a community of others for meditation, prayer or religious activities
Do these things and you will feel your mood improving, your friendships and connections with others deepening, and your soul lightening and growing happier. People would pay millions for these effects and you can do it for free.
Feed Your Soul Daily
Most of us don’t realize how much information we passively take in or how indifferent we are to what we subject or mind and emotions to. In the 16 hours of the day you are awake, what are you consuming with your ears and your eyes? What ideas are you accepting that build you up or tear you down? What are you encountering that makes you feel alive and happy? Or are you only consuming that which makes you excited, anxious and fearful?
All around the world people are taking control of their health by watching what they eat every day. We should also take control of what we’re feeding our souls. When we give it the nutrients for happiness, peace, gratitude and contentment, we naturally begin to grow those things within us and to give them to others. Every day, fill your senses with more positivity than negativity. Grow that part of yourself and life will begin to feel the way you always thought it should.
Like this article or find it useful? Please share it so others can learn these secrets and start living their best lives today.
My Best Life Secrets 