The year 2007 was summarized in a quote from the movie The Great Debaters:

“We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do.”

In 2007 the word was foundation. I actually did it. In the past, I skipped right past foundations and propelled myself into endeavors. I was well meaning, but the fallout from the crash would put me back 5 steps from the beginning. This time around I feel I have a set point. The most amazing part: It only took a year!

In 2008, my word is capacity. Why capacity?

Financial

Building a foundation meant that I got to a position where I created a budget that I could stick to and pay my bills on time. Increasing financial capacity means that money is the last factor in my decision making. Rather than taking a job to pay the credit card bills that have stacked up over the years, I can do work that is in alignment with my purpose with the question of money last on the list. It means that I have the financial resources to plow into projects that provide meaning. To a certain extent, it will translate into more time to pursue passions.

While I do small things every day that are in alignment with my purpose and I do pursue my passions with the resources that I have, it is just that. Building capacity will help me to do more. An important thing to note is that I’m not waiting to have the money in order to pursue my passions. I am pursuing my passions and living in alignment with my purpose to the max right now. With greater capacity, I will be doing more of that.

Physical

One of my measurable goals this year is to walk 750 miles. That means 3 miles a day, 5 days a week. The true objective is to become active. Physical capacity will give me the energy, vitality, and clarity to serve more and to live more fully. With my exercise goal, I am certain that I will also shed some pounds (it’s happening already). My skin is clearer and I feel sexier. It all works together to enrich my life.

Emotional

Increasing my emotional capacity will probably get the most attention this year. The other facets I feel are on auto-pilot, but the emotional aspect of my life will require focus. By emotional capacity, I mean that I want to open my heart. I’m a decided thinker according to the Myer’s Briggs and I love that aspect of myself and my ability to analyze. However, I would like to be a more compassionate person, with myself and others.

I have the remarkable ability to see clearly through any situation to the highest solution. In the process, I often ignore the process that the person is going through to get there. I know that I’ve done that with myself and at least one other person in the past. This year, I would like to be present in moments of pain and joy. They are both states. No more trying to escape it by looking forward to the end result. I’m not sure how I’m going to accomplish this, but I’m sure that I’ll know when I have.

To be completely honest, there is a part of me that is very afraid I’ll become a sap and I won’t be able to think logically, but I know deep within that this will only enhance my capacity to be a change agent in the world. It will also help me to be a clearer expression of God.

Spiritual

Spiritual capacity, what can I say? Enhancing and building spiritual capacity gives you access to all the resources in the Universe. There is only so much that I consciously know or was taught. A little bit more that is hanging out in my subconscious that I may have consciously forgotten, but might be able to tap into if pressed. I have the mental ability to do research and find the things I know I need, but what about the things I don’t know I need?

Often in life, you don’t know the right questions to ask in order to get the information you need. In short, you don’t know what you don’t know. The collection of all knowledge is held in the Universe. When I tap into that source I am nudged in directions I would not ordinarily head. Or I might be where I was going, but I observe something that helps an idea click.

Spirit is the underlying energy of everything and everyone. It is coursing through us, a resource seldom tapped. It is crying out to express through you and me to create the world we want. We are trained to look to our intellect, colleagues, the media, friends, and family for information and wisdom. We need to train ourselves to tap into the Divinity within us. That still, small voice that nudges you to the left or right. The feeling that you have when you know you need to call your friend and it turns out they needed a shoulder to cry on. Spirit is not above being the whack on your head that’s telling you to get out of the wrong job or start sharing your Truth.

Increasing your spiritual capacity means that you set yourself in the flow of life and become wide open for all the good in the Universe to come through you. You will begin to see your world change and take on a vibrancy that you could not have painted if you were Michaelangelo. It is in you, yearning to come forward. Increased spiritual capacity means a knowing that all is working together for good set so deeply within you that even in the most dire circumstances you can say, “Thy will be done.”

Meaning and Purpose

Building financial, physical, emotional, and spiritual capacity will enable you to live in alignment with your purpose. It will help you to live your life with meaning.

Please don’t interpret this as me saying that if you don’t have money or vitality or if you have emotional problems, you cannot live your purpose. I am living proof that you can live your purpose right where you are in your life. Giving your life purpose has to do with living in alignment with your values. It means doing the things you love, being yourself in all situations, and having the resources to do it.

Capacity is not a prerequisite to living a full life. It just enables you to have the backing to make decisions in alignment with who you are. A good example is the work you choose, I’ll take my life. My purpose in life is to express God in every moment and help others do the same. The first part is easy. It’s my choice. The second part, helping others do it, is a bit tricky. I currently work in IT in state government. Every day I go to work as open to expressing Spirit as I can for the day. I ask to be an instrument of Spirit. When I hold meetings with business users, I’m not only there to gather requirements, but to hold the space for the best possible outcome. This is all great.

However, I’d like to teach others how to hold that space in their lives as they fulfill their purpose. I do it a little with this blog. I talk to co-workers. I volunteer in organizations to be that person. I would like to do it for a living. Having the financial resources, being emotionally and physically healthy, and becoming a bigger container of Spirit is enabling me to move in that direction.

New years always bring great promise. By increasing your capacity in all the major areas of your life, you feel more fulfilled. Your life becomes robust, full, and balanced.

In Spirit,
Nneka

Well, really, not 2007 lessons, but lessons learned in 2007. Here goes.

1. Start Today

For years, I had lists of things that I wanted to do, but year after year would go by and I wouldn’t even begin because I was afraid I wouldn’t finish. Last year I set a goal to write everyday. I started out really strong as usual, then half way through I found I didn’t have anything to say. I shifted from writing for the public to journaling. The sheer practice of writing everyday, no matter how small pushed me forward. At the end of 2007, Balanced Life Center broke 700 feed subscribers because I chose to start on a goal I had for many years.

2. Make the Time

I realized that when I say I don’t have the time, what I really mean is I don’t want to. When I took a hard look at my life, I saw that I made time to do all the things I really wanted to do for whatever reason. It could be that I made myself get to work at 8am because I wanted to keep my job. Or I spend time chatting on the phone because I enjoy the connection. Good or bad, everything that I chose to do was done exactly for that reason: I chose it.

When you say you don’t have the time, you are really saying that whatever it is is not a priority at this point in your life. When you think about it that way you will find a way to make the time. I did everything I thought was important.

3. Keep Your Spiritual Practice

You know I had to sneak it in. My spiritual practice keeps me sane. In past years, this would be another one of those things I would start and stop in 3 months. This year spending 30 minutes in the morning reminding myself of the nature of God and my true Self saved me. It kept me focused on the bigger picture. It helped me to recognize it in others. It helped me to be kinder to myself and others.

4. Go Easy on Yourself

You’re not in a race. You have no competitors. You don’t even have to out-do yourself. It’s such a relief coming to that realization. I always thought that if I went easy on myself my life would go to pot. The complete opposite happened. I got stronger and softer. I gained freedom and lost control. I had more to be proud of and felt no need to be proud.

5. Be Courageous

Every step you take in the direction of your dreams, they take 10 toward you. Start small with your courage. If you want to be a public speaker, go to Toastmasters and be the timer. If you want to have love, start smiling at potential partners. If you want to run a marathon, start with a walk around the block. AND KEEP GOING. When you finish that block or have the first date or get asked to be the evaluator, go the next round. Keep putting one step in front of the other. You will find yourself at your goal in no time.

6. Trust Your Instincts

One of the benefits of my spiritual practice is my heightened intuition. It nudges me all the time, often 2 to 3 times before I take the hint. I’m learning to listen and trust. Here’s a tiny example. I was heading back to Raleigh after visiting my family for the holidays. As I was packing my bags, something told me to get the cards out and put them in my laptop bag. I didn’t listen. Then, in the car, I was talking to my parents and asked my dad if he got my card. He said there was a stack of cards on the table and he hadn’t opened everything yet, so he didn’t know. When they stopped for gas, I calmly went to my bag and removed the cards. There in the stack was his card. Seems tiny, but it’s practice to trust. I am a heavy analytical person, but I am learning the value of that 6th sense. It always sends me in the right direction.

7. Life Is In Your Favor

One of the tenets of my faith is that the God is all good all the the time everywhere present. When I started to live as though I believed that I realized it meant that life is in my favor. The realization helped me to stay open to the possibilities at times when I would have tried to make things happen in a particular way. Making things happen is infinitely more difficult than allowing them to happen.

Imagine that only good can come of anything and there are infinite realities of that good. When that happens, you can’t go wrong. I’ve been through a lot of painful stuff this year. But the thing that makes life painful is not having faith and not getting what you want, it’s shutting your connection off and looking outside yourself to fix it. You can’t completely shut off the faucet so it’s a struggle to do so. Then, when you’ve sufficiently tightened it you feel like you’re paddling upstream. Go with the flow, you will feel ease and contentment. Your life will be full.

Happy New Year! Later on I’ll share with you some of the things I’d like to learn this year.

In Spirit,
Nneka