SOUL. We’ve all heard that word tossed around in a myriad of ways.

“I love you with my heart and soul.”

“It hurts down to my soul.”

“My soul is not right.”

“Make sure your soul is saved.”

“The eyes are the window to the soul.”

But what really is a soul? We can’t see it. How are we even sure it exists?

Merriam-Webster defines it as this (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soul)

: the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever

: a person's deeply felt moral and emotional nature

: the ability of a person to feel kindness and sympathy for others, to appreciate beauty and art, etc.

I personally believe we do not HAVE a soul. Wait, before you stop reading because you think I’ve lost it, consider this quote:

“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” – C.S. Lewis

It is traditional within Western society to view ourselves as disjointed. We see parts of ourselves separately. We believe in the existence of our dreams and hopes. Some of us believe there is another part of us that lives on beyond the finiteness of human breath, and we usually refer to this part as a “soul”. We also know we have thoughts (our mind), and we know we have urges and desires (our will). In addition, we certainly know our physicality (our body) exists, and usually many of us are stuck in a position of hating it for one reason or another. But, we rarely know how to integrate the three (mind, will, body).

What if we changed how we view ourselves? Multiple cultures, across borders and constraints of time, have always believed in the wholeness of humanity. They do not see mind, will and body as disjointed. They also view the soul as having a completely different purpose.

So, instead, what if we choose to see our soul as existing ONLY to assimilate our mind, our will and our body? Think about it! What if you lived a life of alignment, where every thought, desire and action were first pressed through the sieve of an aligned soul?

Within the past year and a half, I’ve made some very tough decisions to leave a zone of comfort I’d existed in for far too long. I was confused about where to go in my career. I was frustrated with dealing with a relationship that seemed to be going nowhere. I was stuck in a prison of self-doubt, self-hatred, and limited thinking. I hated my body. There was a track playing non-stop in my head that constantly reminded me of all the things I was doing wrong, how I failed, and how terrible of a person I was. My health was suffering. I felt stuck, broken, disjointed. There were times I thought it would be easier to just give up. I thought about making changes, but most times, that’s as far as I went with them, just thoughts. I was stuck in fear. I had no idea why I did not feel right in my SOUL. I was NOT living in alignment.

But there came a time where I could no longer sit and wait for my life to change around me. I had to be intentional. I began to focus on changing one area at a time. Not all the changes have come at once. I first started by changing my diet, hoping that would alleviate some of my health symptoms. A few months later, I began working with a life coach. A few months after that, my career became more clear, and I decided to pursue becoming a health coach and an author. A short while later, I began to make efforts to repair relationships. A few things began to click into place for me, and I began to feel more aligned. However, there were still some major holes in my life.

It has been hard. It has been an excruciatingly painful journey. Don’t make the mistake of believing it has been as easy as me merely listing the steps I went through. Sometimes I took one step forward and five steps back. I lost friends. Some of my own family members couldn’t understand me anymore. I failed. Over and over again. I lost my temper. I suffered through depression, anxiety and PTSD. When you first decide to start making changes, expect all hell to break loose in your life, determining if you are worthy of the life you pursue. But I was resolved to not let it break me.

See, as I learned, when you make a conscious decision and state your intention to the universe to be ONE with your PURPOSE, you start to become unstoppable. Yes, you will face difficulties, but it is also in that environment that your soul begins to thrive, to be healthy and to be whole.

I began to watch blessings unfold in my life. I saw growth in the depth of relationships with my Creator and with some of my family members. I began to be healthier in body. Almost each day, another step in my career would become clearer. I did this by starting to walk in alignment with my purpose, by finding my self-worth and value.

Where do you find your value? How do you become in alignment with your purpose? I personally find my value in my Creator. Aligning myself with Him allows my purpose on this Earth to be revealed to me. If you don’t believe in God, you could find value and alignment in your higher power, a relative, a close friend, a career, etc. The main point in choosing where to find your value is that you select something or someone that allows and pushes you into becoming your purpose.

However, there was still a very real part of me that felt disjointed. In retrospect, I was ignoring a very key part of my soul, and that was my intuition. It was telling me that the relationship I was in was not conducive to my continued growth and change. One of us was growing and changing rapidly, the other was not. One of us was committed to consistency, truth, integrity and trust, and the other was not. It became a daily struggle just to find equilibrium and keep it all together. Almost all of my energy was spent on trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. When he and I had first met, we were both two very broken people, trying to complete a puzzle of a relationship with only half the pieces. It was doomed to fail from the start. However, I did not want to believe it was true. I loved him with everything I had. He had a great heart, with a great personality. I saw his potential and wanted to believe it would be actualized with me. But the potential was never enough. Instead, I became frustrated and angry because the relationship was no longer what I needed or wanted, and he unfortunately took the brunt of that anger (which was horribly wrong on my part). It was like I was running a mile ahead as I went through changes, and I would have to run back to him and say, “Come on! What are you waiting for? Life is waiting, let’s go!” It was exhausting. It was keeping me from feeling whole and integrated.

There came a breaking point where I had to make a decision. If I wasn’t happy, if I didn’t feel aligned in mind, body and will, if I couldn’t continue to see us growing together, then I had to make a move. And I did. Don’t ever think it was easy. It was the most difficult, most painful, most agonizingly emotional moment of my life. Trying to take that first step is the heaviest my foot has ever felt.

BUT… let me repeat that again… BUT, I was BLOWN AWAY by how quickly everything fell into place for me, once I stepped INTO MY PURPOSE. I made it clear to the universe that I would no longer accept less than I desired and deserved. My WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE suddenly came into such clear alignment that all I could do was step back and say, “Wow. Wow. Woooowwww.”

I had keys to a townhome for rent within 4 days (and considering we had a pet to bring along, that’s a miracle). I had friends to help me move the very next day. I had just enough in savings to pay my deposit, a few months’ rent, and buy the furniture and supplies we needed. I’m talking down to the pennies! I started receiving inquiries about my business, and coming across referral partners. Most of all, I felt an incredible PEACE I have not felt in a long time. I KNOW without any doubt that I am on the right path. I AM IN ALIGNMENT WITH MY PURPOSE. There is no question or doubt in my mind that I am exactly where I need to be in life. My intent is now to allow God to bring things my way that He has designed for me, now that there is the proper space for them. Whatever I state I desire for myself (my will), in the arena of health, relationships, career, etc., I follow through with that in mind and body as well. I do not state one thing, then do another, because that would break my soul. Instead, my mind, body and will are ONE. I LIVE my intentions. There is NOTHING in this world that can compare to that. No relationship, no friendship, no religion, no diet, no latest fad, no technology… NOTHING can replace that feeling. MY SOUL IS AT PEACE.

So, maybe you think, “That sounds well and great, but what does a soul have to do with health and nutrition?” Remember when I stated that many of us get stuck in a pattern of hating the very skin in which we live? Have you ever wondered why? One very real and common reason is not being in alignment with our purpose.

When your soul is unhealthy, when you are disjointed, you cannot be happy with yourself. Your health will suffer. You will hate your body. You will be depressed, anxious, confused, in pain. You will not know which way to turn. You will make poor choices that do not reflect what you truly desire out of life. You may even try to eat yourself into oblivion, as you don’t know any other way of coping with feeling disjointed and achieving less than your potential.

Choose instead to state your intention of being one with your purpose. Find a way to bring your body, will, and mind into alignment. If you state that you desire to be healthy, start by making one healthy change (such as drinking enough water each day). If you state that you desire to be a millionaire, start by changing your thinking regarding money. There’s no rule that says you have to make all changes all at once. In fact, you are guaranteed failure if that’s the way you try to do it. Baby steps are okay! But the more you begin making choices that are in alignment with what you desire in life, the more you will begin to see your life, and your HEALTH, transform. Try it, I dare you.

Remember, you do not HAVE a soul. You ARE a soul. Do whatever you must to keep it whole. If your soul is broken, so are you.

May you be blessed with all the peace, kindness and love you deserve.

Beauty can be found in the smallest things.

-Rachel