Fear aims to stop us in our tracks. When we step forward anyway, our anxiety eases. We begin to pay attention to what�s actually going on instead of being trapped in fearful speculation. When we�ve done it once, we can do it again. And again. And again.

"Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them."

-- Brendan Francis

Take time to be still

"Work is not always required ... there is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected."

-- George MacDonald

When was the last time you did absolutely nothing?

Our world is so addicted to productivity that we feel guilty if we�re not doing something. But taking time daily to be still and inactive opens us to the spacious present. It nurtures and restores balance. Give yourself a regular gift of inactivity.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."

-- Sir J. Lubbock

What blocks connection?

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."

-- Joseph F. Newton

We experience soul when we really connect with life -- when we stop and consciously experience what is happening.

We lose soul with:

- resistance - to anyone or anything
- superficiality - we avoid depth of experience
- control - we try to control the relationship
- selfishness - we remain self-centered.

Each of these attitudes fosters separation rather than connection. Once again, soul lives in relating.

Take time to become aware of, and perhaps journal on how you relate to other people and things in your life.

"We have to decide for ourselves what�s nourishing to our souls, and do those things over others."

-- Thomas Moore