Soul Filling Moments

The view from a mountaintop after a long hike. The sand between my toes while watching ocean waves roll in. A vast dark sky with a million pinpoints of light. My husband’s smile when he sees me. Listening to my son play the piano. The excitement of a client when they realize they are stronger than they think.

These are some of the things that fill me up. Soul-filling moments that make me feel like my heart is about to burst wide open with an almost unbearable amount of emotion. Happiness, sadness, joy, exquisite pain, wonder, and awe all rolled up together. It feels as if the entire universe is aligned and I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

These are the times I know why I’m alive.

These moments used to be much fewer and farther between. I let stress and anxiety from school and work pressures, bad decisions, and toxic relationships steal much of my time and joy. Worrying about the future and fretting about the past left me little time to enjoy the now.

For many, life is just an endless cycle of responsibilities and obligations. Raising a family, taking care of a household, or trying to have a career (or both) hardly leaves time to take a breath. You wake up one day and realize you've just been going through the motions. It’s an existence, it’s not really living, certainly not thriving. It may never occur to you to stop and ask, What fills me up and how do I fit that into an already busy life? 

Even if you realize that you need to make time for yourself, guilt can creep in. That guilt hits women hard. We are the caregivers, the teachers, mothers, partners – we are supposed to be everything to everyone. Society teaches us to put others first, to make sure everyone else is taken care of before us. The problem is that everyone never gets completely taken care of. It feels selfish to spend money or time on yourself when there are so many others who still “need” you.

Maybe it's not guilt, it's just the passage of time. More than a few women have put themselves second (third, fourth, and fifth) for so long that they have completely lost touch with themselves. Dreams and passions have taken a back seat, and they have no idea what they like doing or what might bring them joy. The idea of rediscovering themselves feels more than a little scary and overwhelming.

Do you see yourself in any of these? Are you missing out on your moments because of anxiety, endless obligations, guilt, or long forgotten dreams?

It's time to stop.

Life isn't meant to feel like you're trudging through an endless to-do list. It should be lived with passion and joy - and it's never too late to discover what fills your heart and soul!

Working through my anxiety has helped me see what I've been missing. I'm actively looking for those soul-filling moments now - the quiet simple ones, the magnificent earth-shattering ones, and everything in between. I'm determined to not miss any more. I hope you'll join me. Check out below for some ideas in discovering (or rediscovering) what fills you up.

Stay well, my friends.

Alicia

Awe inspiring and frightening.

Soul-Filling Moment courtesy of Gulf Shores, AL.