What’s in the depth of your soul?  What would you be like without it?  Would you be like a robot just going through the motions?  Expressionless? Stiff? Non-emotional? Passionless?  Disinterested?

The soul to which I am referencing is the one that leads and guides you through life.  You might identify it as a calling or a passion or an emotion you cannot describe.  It is the one that beckons you to express your passion.  Think of any day you have experienced.  Where in that day did you feel so strongly about doing something or seeing someone or trying something new? When did you procrastinate or put things off?  Your day says a lot about your soul.

How can you measure the depth of your soul? You can’t just jam a measuring stick in it.  Is it limitless? Does it continually fill itself and redeem?  How can you apply the depth of your soul to your life, each and every day?

The first thing to do is figure out what your passion is.  For many years, I proclaimed that I did not have a passion.  That is only because I did not realize it. I wondered, “how do I figure that out?” I really had no idea and that is because I didn’t know where to look.  I didn’t know that if I delved into one of my days that I would see it clearly in front of me.

Some days, of course, are better than others.  In some, your passion reveals itself in its truest form.  Your soul holds it as if it is a color in the rainbow.  If you want your life to be as beautiful and varied as the colors in a rainbow, add a new color a row at a time, each signifying the different parts of your soulful life.

Let me give an example.  Many people see nothing about soul in a martial art. If you just learn karate, for instance, to do the movements or for the self-defense aspects, that is commendable.  If you learn it just to get fit or lose weight, that is spectacular.  All great reasons.  I see the opposite.  I see everything about soul in a martial art.If you learn it to achieve personal excellence, then you are starting to allow your soul to fill you with the right stuff.  If it infiltrates your daily life, your mindset, your approach, then you are training your soul, too.  That is the ultimate in my martial art expression.  My martial art rainbow consists of the colored belts I’ve earned over the years. Each reflects a different achievement, turning point, and attained goal.

If I just learned karate and never applied it to my life, it would not mean as much. Sure, physically, I’m more prepared to protect myself, but I want to be prepared mentally, too.  That means facing each day as a warrior and being prepared to redirect negativity or express genuine compassion on a moment’s notice.  I don’t know what will be thrown my way.  I, at times. start in a negative place and then talk myself through to a more positive light.  That is my soul in action.  Deep down I realize that I must overcome, conquer, be patient, work through it….whatever it is.  It is how I fight to regain the positive or to re-energize my composure in a difficult moment that allows my soul to be expressed.

Check out any martial artist on YouTube.  I bet you will find someone so completely fascinating that you can’t turn away.  It could be a young child practicing a kata, or a teenager breaking a board, or an adult flipping or twisting or throwing or falling.  When you see something spectacular, or just so intriguing that you cannot turn away, you are witnessing the soulful expression of a martial artist.

There’s a huge boxing match coming up this weekend.  I know many people will pay to watch it.  I’m not a huge boxing fan, but one thing I do know is that without passion and without soul, a fighter will never make it to a championship.  When you put two of the best fighters in the ring together to win a title, their blood, sweat, and tears will drip from their soul right in front of your eyes. It’s undeniable.

Some claim that my soul is undeniably seen in my writing.  I share a very genuine and vulnerable part of me when I write my posts.  That is because they come from my heart and soul.  If I just wrote without personal experience or expression, I believe the words would mean nothing.

The depth of your soul should be examined, too.  What do you love? Who do you love? How can you take your personal passions and create a life that has energy and enthusiasm?  I know it’s a struggle because I have the same reaction.  “Really?  How can I possibly do that?” I wonder.  Well, it’s already in motion because the passions are already set in you.  The day you were born you had gifts and talents that wouldn’t be exposed until much later, when you could recognize them, until they were mature enough to seep from your soul.  Today is the day to recognize.

Do you like music? The color of the sky? Working with children? Writing? Talking? Sharing? Taking Photographs? Drawing or Painting? Dancing? Exercising? Singing? Laughing? Listening? Creating? There are so many possibilities.  What is on your list? What do you want to conquer?  What do you want to say?

Don’t let the colors on your rainbow fade by not addressing what affects you and moves you and directs you.  There will be times in your life when you feel you are too busy to pay attention, but if you let them extinguish, it’s hard to get them flowing again.  Many things can stand in your way.  Financial issues.  Medical issues. Timing. Schooling. Work. Responsibilities. Regain your composure as quickly as possible.

I met someone recently who is one of the most soulful people I’ve ever met.  A man who elicited the depth of his soul to overcome.  A discouraging childhood, daily needs that were stifled in his youth, and drugs make up a big part of who he once was.  He had to face so many challenges growing up and in his young adulthood that you and I could never truly comprehend. He found a way to turn that around.  Today, he’s successful and positive, giving and compassionate.  Only a soul that’s been nourished and recognized can make those kinds of changes in a life that is constantly riddled with challenges. It just goes to show that the depth of your soul extends so deeply that you can always find the true you beneath  the surface.  He is also a martial artist which confirms how robust even a once broken and torn soul can be.

If you live your life without digging deep, you’ll never find happiness.  You will see each day as a drudgery and even the most beautiful moments in life will have no affect on you.  Going through the motions is no way to be.  Personally, I am at my most creative when I’m hurting, excited, or joyous.  Those piqued moments elevate me to where I allow the creative juices flow.  Then, I write the song or the poem or the blog and I know that I’ve reached the right place.

Whatever your calling may be; whatever makes you happy; whatever challenges frustrate you enough to jump up and tell yourself that you’ve had enough; only then, will you find the depth of your soul.

Update your life now.  Recognize who you are.  If not a martial artist, then what?  What is the passion? Who do you want to be?  I challenge you to really contemplate and meditate on this question because it is the key to your fulfilling life.

I’ll be digging deep searching for the depth of my soul through my martial art and through all of my creative outlets.  It’s the least I can do since I’ve been blessed with these talents.  As for you, I hope that you reflect a little and decide living like a robot or in drudgery will leave you empty.  Only when you seek the depth of your soul and apply your passions to your life, will you finally understand who you really are.

All I want is for you to win.  Win at being who you are meant to be.  Win at stretching past your boundaries.  Win at expressing yourself.  Win at living passionately.  Win at Life.

Andrea