chicken soup for the soul

when i was in middle school/high school, i was obsessed with that series.  i think i either owned or had checked out every book that in any way related to me...for the kid's soul (I & II), for the teen's soul (I-IV), for the pet lover's soul, for the volunteer's soul...you name it, i had read it.  and sobbed all the way through it, no doubt.  when i got to college and in the post-college years, it was for the college soul, for the teacher's soul, for the traveler's soul, for the woman's soul, yes - even for the scrapbooker's soul.  you think i'm kidding.  click here to see the complete list of titles.  the point is, i read these books all the time and sometimes the stories made me laugh, other times they made me cry, but they always moved me and tugged at my emotions.


i'm at a point in my life now where these books just aren't cutting it for me anymore.  sorry, jack canfield and mark victor hansen.  it's just that i need more depth these days.  and sometimes i need to not read at all, but to feed my soul in another way.

the last two weeks have been rotten.  i questioned this the other day when i checked my horoscope and it said something about things not really being that bad and me just needing to shift my perspective.  after a few moments of consideration, i decided that while a perspective shift never hurt anybody, the last two weeks have been rotten no matter which eyes you look through.  cue the long weekend.  thank you, dr. martin luther king, jr.  i know you did many very important things and spoke many very important words, and this is probably sacrilegious, but what i am most grateful for right now is the fact that you did something important enough for us to get an extra day off of school.  i desperately needed it.

the danger in making service your life work is that you run yourself ragged for others until you have nothing left to give.  i was pretty close to that point by the time friday afternoon rolled around, so i decided to spend all weekend feeding my soul chicken soup.  truth be told, i would have given anything to be able to jump on a plane to some exotic island and leave it all behind, but that kind of spontaneity just isn't in the cards for me.  instead, on friday i drank a margarita with a friend and discussed life.  that night i slept for 11 hours.  on saturday i met a friend i hadn't seen in awhile for brunch.  then i met another friend downtown for mani/pedis.  then i read a beautiful book that my dad gave me for christmas:  my life with the saints by james martin, sj.  specifically, i read the chapter about st. ignatius of loyola.  what a guy!  definitely fed my soul.  i slept for 11 more hours saturday night, then woke up sunday and had a skype date with my family, then went to a bridal expo with another good friend, followed by a quiet lunch, a bit of sale shopping downtown, a beautiful Mass, and dinner with friends.  this morning, i had brunch with a friend, went to the market, did a little bit of work, and had dinner with two friends.  i started a new health plan with my mom and sister (thank you, myfitnesspal app).  i took care of myself.  i spent time alone and time with good friends and time with family.  i actually took time to talk to God and listen for God in ways that i haven't these past two weeks.  and guess what?


i feel much better.  as a new week begins, i am reminded of a prayer card my grandma gave me over christmas.  this is what it says:

so even though jack and mark haven't written a "chicken soup for the principal's soul", all is well.  heck, i could write it myself.  here's to a better week.  and if i do need to shift my perspective, God, (which i probably do), please give me the grace to do so!