Soul & Day Four

Yipee!! Day four actually had a little less pain than day three!

That means I am pushing through the Fibro pain. The way I describe it to others is like the tin man, when he was all rusted up, he didn't squeek. But when they started to oil his joints and move him, he squeeked really loudly. Then once he was all oiled up he could move freely without squeeking. I'm squeeking pretty loud but it's getting better!

Today I am going to discuss "Soul". I debated about these goals because I read in another book that said your goals should be measureable. How do you measure a "deepened relationship"? I believe that all relationships ebb and flow, even our relationship to God. He's always there, it is usually (always) us that moves. How do you measure "impacting more people"? Especially when I know there are people we can impact and never even know. This blog alone, I hope, inspires someone to keep going towards their goals, or even write down some goals. All of those would be positive impacts. Again not measureable. So I am simply going to measure my daily discipline. The goal then is to do these three EVERY day.

Let me give you a little history. The first two I have been doing for quite a while. My prayer partner and I have been praying every morning for just over three years. Well, sort of every morning, we're really bad on the weekends and if either one of us is traveling. So my challenge for this discipline is to not miss weekends. The same is true for talking to Jeff. We're really good on weekdays, but weekends slip through the cracks.

The third discipline, "reach out to one more", I am measuring as making contact with someone outside of my usual circle daily. This may be, having a little conversation with the checkout clerk at the store (answering, "did you find everything ok?" with "fine" doesn't count) or trading emails with a contact or making a phone call. I am allowing people that I already know but not counting those I regularly interact with. The key is they need to be someone I have to "reach out" to.

For me, this is BY FAR the most difficult of all nine daily disciplines. I don't work outside my home and it would be very easy for me to "hibernate" in my house and my comfortable environment. So this will take effort to either go somewhere or pick up the phone. Plus there's the issue of how I was wired. Most people who know me are always surprised that this is a challenage for me. I would be described as out-going, friendly, and talkative (sometimes too much). All that is true, but only if I am with someone I know. I was in drama in high school and I am very comfortable on stage or at the podium. I have spoken to audiences of several hundred without a single bit of nerves, I love it actually. But talking to a stranger, one on one, by myself, terrifies me!!! The thought of a job interview (back when I was a working girl) scared me, even if I was the interviewer! I have worked very hard on this over the past several years and I have to say I have gotten way better. I now feel "compelled" to strike up a conversation with the checkout clerk. I went to a copy shop yesterday and was actually glad there was no one else in there so I could have an extended conversation with the clerk. She was a very nice lady!

Besides being the most difficult discipline, I also believe that it is the most important. I heard someone say that the only thing you can take to heaven with you are other people. When I graduated from high school someone gave me a card with a poem titled "Success". The card credited it to Ralph Waldo Emerson which is not true. It has also been attributed to Robert Louis Steveson, also not true. A similar poem was written by Bessie Anderson Stanley, in 1904. Here is the version that was on my card:

Success

To live well, laugh often, and love much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

I have since believed that the only true definition of success is to touch other people's lives. That is impacting people!

I'm living on the eighth day, right now!

Heart
check 30 Minute Exercise
check ate fruits or veggies
check followed payoff plan
Soul
check Prayed with prayer partner
check Talked to Jeff
check Reached out to one more
Mind
check listened to audio
check read 10 pages
check blog checklist