Nurturing the Soul

"When we are surrounded by relationships that nurture us fully, our souls feels safe to grow, create and have the courage to express ourselves fully. Being in a state of nurturing is familiar to our souls; it is from this place that we first enter this world, and it is up to us to safeguard our spiritual selves to remain in a state of nurturing."

—   Madisyn Taylor, DailyOM

What a great quote. If you are lucky, turning 40 (and up!) is quite a gift. It is like overnight you give yourself permission to shed the BS and surround yourself with people that matter. (And if you figure this out before 40, you are waayy ahead of the game! Good for you!) Doing things and going places that make your soul feel good, sounds heavenly doesn’t it? Almost overnight, it’s ok that you may miss the party. Staying in with family or a few good friends sounds so much more fun. Don’t get me wrong; I loves me a good time. But as I age I find what I truly love is the feeling I get when I get to spend time with the people I love and who, I can feel in my soul, really love me to.

I am a kind and polite person so I would never be rude to anyone, but to have the freedom to realize I don’t have to be liked by everyone and be their best friend is liberating.

I remember one time a friend was complaining that a woman she couldn’t stand didn’t invite her to a party she was having. “Can you believe she didn’t invite me?” she asked incredulously. ‘Well,” I replied, “Maybe she knows you don’t like her.” “Well, yeah but what does that have to do with being invited to a party?” She wondered. Hmmmm. Why do we feel the need to have everyone like us, when we know that is virtually impossible?

Our insecurities are what is standing in the way of nurturing our own souls. Fear that other people will see our flaws and imperfections drive us over and over to put ourselves in situations where we are around people that don’t bring out the best in us.

Oh no, if I don’t go to the luncheon, (party, gathering, committee meeting) what will they think of me? Give yourself a break and imagine for a minute that it didn’t matter what people who don’t love you and nurture your soul think because it’s true! And say a prayer for the people in your life who do.