Living Intentionally: Nourishing your spirit day 3

Have you thought about what nourishes your spirit? What makes you come alive? What helps you remember why you are who you are? If you are one who sees God as the source of your life and origin, what keeps you in the awareness that you are connected to Him at all times? Does it always have to be something "spiritual" that keeps our spirits alive? I don't think so.

I think there are so many ways to nourish our spirits. I believe that we are meant to live vibrant lives no matter what our circumstances. I believe that because I've seen people in a variety of circumstances living vibrant lives, and I've seen people in each of those same circumstances NOT living vibrant lives. One of the definitions of vibrant is "pulsating". I love that. I want to live a life that is always pulsating. Pulsating with hope, joy, life, faith, peace, a fighting spirit. I need to be nurturing that by guarding what I allow into my life, by letting go of what needs to be let go of, by filling myself with good stuff. By reminding myself that God is never, ever apart from me. He is as close as my next breath, sometimes I take it for granted and kind of forget. I want to always be aware. He's no closer to me if I'm in a church service worshipping, than if I'm having a conversation with him while folding laundry, or hiking in the woods. I am always connected, I just sometimes forget that little fact. 

So how do we do this? How do we nourish our spirits? I think there are many ways. And, I don't think there's a right or a wrong way necessarily, or a certain formula, or a certain way it should look once you've done any of these things. Only you know. 

1. Pray, speak, declare, converse. Whatever you want to do, or call it, but our words are powerful and relationships and life don't happen without them. I'm going to reference God because that's a part of who I am and what I believe. So I do spend time talking to Him, declaring what I know to be true of Him and of me. It makes the already existing connection more alive and real and tangible.

2. Read. I love to read and it is one way that nurtures my spirit. I try to read something everyday even if it's a few pages in one of my favorite books, a verse from my favorite Bible translation, a quote or two, or someone's blog post. Just something that stirs me, something that reminds me who I am, something that challenges me to think even deeper or more outside the box. 

3. Be willing; to admit you might not have all the answers and maybe the answers you thought you had aren't necessarily right. It's okay to be wrong, it's okay to say "hmmm...even though I believed this for years, I'm thinking that wasn't quite accurate". Be willing to change the way you think. To get new revelation. It's okay.

4. Music. Music can be so good for our spirits. Shoot, it's good for our soul and our body too. I love music and almost always have something going. Whether it's instrumental, or up-beat or something in between, it can do wonders. 

5. Spend time in nature. Fresh air is amazing for our spirits. It gives us time away from things that can muddle our thinking. It clears our minds. It gives us uninterrupted times of reflection.

6. Be a part of community. Whether it's a church, a home group, a moms group. Find a group to be in relationship with. It's good to talk, discus, laugh, cry, learn and grow with others. And guess what? You don't have to agree on everything. 

7. Stay positive. Set boundaries with toxic and negative people. Clean up your social media. If posts by certain people have a negative affect on you, hide them. If some people just drain the life out of you, set boundaries. Some people will just need, need, need and never change. That's not healthy for you, and it's okay to take care of you.

8. Engage your passions. Do you like to draw, write, photograph, cook, craft....whatever you love, find time to do it. I know that I have not done this and there are so many things I"d love to try doing. 

9. Volunteer. Sometimes being a part of something that cannot give anything back to you (material value that is) does wonders for the spirit. 

10. Just be quiet, slow down and pay attention. I don't mean "shut up" quiet, though you may need to do that, but I mean just be still. Surround yourself with quiet, and just listen. What do you hear? What stirs within you? When you slow down and pay attention to what's around you, what do you see? What do you hear? What do you sense?

I would love to hear what you do to nourish your spirit?


With Joy Unquenchable,