"Eating good food, exercising, mental stimulation, and rest are essential to the care of our physical being. When we breathe deeply and consciously, we take in and circulate life-giving oxygen, allow our bodies to function more smoothly. In the mental realm, flushing out old habits, thoughts, and attitudes can help to refresh our mind and allow our life to run more smoothly. Controlling knee-jerk reactions that limit our options to knowing the truth can give us an opportunity to more gracefully respond to circumstances and events." --Carrie Masters in Science of Mind Magazine. I love the clients I work with. They are so committed to making a difference in the world. Many of them are like high performance racing cars. They speed around the track of life at breath-taking speeds. Unfortunately, many of them have refused to make a pit stop or take a break between races and their bodies, the vehicles of their soul, show sign of severe wear and tear, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Just like it's necessary to take our cars into the shop for servicing, it's important that we stop driving ourselves with our to-do lists long enough to reflect on old habits and attitudes that can rob us of our joy and can lead to serious breakdowns. As Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz point out in their book, The Power of Full Engagement, we are like a complex engine with 4 different, but inter-related energy sources. Our physical energy may dictate how fast we can run around the track of life, but our over all happiness and balance comes from taking care of all four sources of energy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Ignore any one of these for an extended period, and it won't be long before our performance in life is diminished. Are you willing to take a quick inventory of how well you are caring for the vehicle of your soul? PHYSICALLY, are you within your ideal body weight? Do you eat balanced, nutritious meals, and regularly perform the important exercise of pushing away from the table before you're stuffed? Do you schedule in regular time for exercise and keep those appointments with yourself? Do you go to bed at a regular time, sleep well, and awaken energized and inspired into the next day? Do you drink plenty of clean, life-giving water? MENTALLY, do you regularly flush out old habits, thoughts and attitudes that can serve to gum up the works of your mind, thus freeing yourself up for new ideas, new purposeful patterns that serve you, and new ways of being that are consistent with your life purpose? EMOTIONALLY, do you regularly catch yourself in those moments when fear, lack, and struggle are about to take over your life, and consciously pivot to love, abundance, and flow, thus allowing your true, divinely inspired purpose to direct your life? SPIRITUALLY, do you take time to connect with the source of all creation? Do you reserve time each day to connect with this source with the intention to raise your consciousness and awareness of your true purpose? Or are you like a high performance race car in dire need of a major check up and overhaul? Remember, without proper maintenance on the vehicle of your soul, you may find yourself in the pits with a blown engine well before the race is over. Dr. W. Bradford Swift confesses to be a Burned Out Boomer (in recovery) who has dedicated his life to assisting people to rekindle their passion and sense of purpose while growing their businesses to be 'multi-dimensionally' profitable. Take the quick and insightful Life On Purpose Self Test to determine how on or off purpose your life is at: http://lifeonpurpose.com/index.php?page=24 2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this resource box are included. |
