‘Putting Your Soul in Charge of Your Life’
“If you can choose the love route, you know you have put your soul in charge of your life.”
“If there is one thing that has made a difference in my life, it is the courage to turn and face what wants to change within me.”
Elizabeth Lesser’s gift is putting words to the feelings and longings that shape our human experience. She’s helped over a million people realize them through her life’s work co-founding the Omega Institute. Still, what I admire most about her is her courage opening to the whole human experience. That’s why I paused when I read this quote in her renowned book, Broken Open. Truthfully, I was curious how I might do the same.
She illuminates the first step in my favorite passage…
“‘Put your soul in charge of your life,’ the psychic had told me. This was back when I was in the desolate middle of my own divorce; when I was changing everything for the sake of something I could barely describe, even to myself. What was that call I was hearing that seemed to come from an ache deep within? I was going to put that in charge of my life? I too argued with my soul for a long time before I came to know it as my wisest self, my compass that would direct me to a different kind of safety, an inner stability that far surpassed anything the noise in my head could imagine. Getting quiet enough to hear the voice of the soul became my practice. Learning to distinguish what was soul from what was dread, or guilt, or pride — that became my purpose. To dig for the soul, and then to gather the courage to put it in charge of my life.”
I found myself repeating “Put your soul in charge of your life,” despite not truly grasping its meaning. The simplicity of the invitation surprised me…
“Where you can grow the most is in your real experiences; How you show up as a wife or husband, mother or father, friend or sibling — How you show up there, that is your soul…When you're being called to be your biggest self. When you could choose to love or you could choose to hold on tight and not let go. When you could let go because love is guiding you.
If you can choose the love route, you know you have put your soul in charge of your life.”
As you’ll find in our conversation, Elizabeth is at once deeply wise and laugh out loud funny. We explore why “real fearlessness is the product of tenderness,” how to stay open during difficult times and experience the dignity of true relationships. Her stories of love and loss illuminate the aliveness we discover when we connect deeper with ourselves and each other.
What relationship might you strengthen by choosing the love route, including your relationship with yourself? What is one step you can take in that direction?
With gratitude,
Jenna