2 * 0 * 4 Lifestyle: Remember the Soul

C.S. Lewis is often credited with saying

"You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body."

William Walsham, in 1876, wrote:

Now I think I am wrong, after all, in saying that you have a soul. Ought I not to say, you are a soul? Is not the soul really yourself? In truth, my children, it is the soul that has a body, not the body that has a soul; for the soul is greater surely than the body, and will last when the body is laid aside in death. 

The idea originated earlier than Walsham, all the way to Luke 10:27:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."  A lawyer had asked Christ for the path to eternal life.

And Christ turned back the question with his own, a very important question, one that we need to remember.  "What is written in the Law?"  (In other words, know the Bible.)

The man answered referred with Deuteronomy 6:5:  "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Old Testament and New Testament, and most of us are still neglecting our soul.

For most of our lives, we're busy with our jobs (minds in use) while we concentrate on good things to eat and exercise to do (body in use).  We enjoy our time with our families and friends.  And we neglect the Soul--except for a little bit of time on Sunday, if then.

We have no trouble remembering our bodies.  It constantly reminds us of its needs:  Feed me.  Take me to the bathroom.  Let me sleep.  Get up and walk, you lazy bum.

We remember our minds, for it will chatter at us:  What do we do next?  Should we turn there?  Who on earth is that?  I've forgotten.  It's on the tip of your tongue.  Write that down so we'll remember.

Our hearts crave relationships:  husbands and wives, children and parents, sisters and brothers, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.  Friends, more friends, close friends, mere acquaintances.  Wish I knew how to keep my boss happy.  How can I help that homeless man?  My neighbor is sick;  I'll take her some soup.  And so on.  We build circles upon circles, ever expanding spheres of contact with others.

How often do we allow ourselves time to connect to our souls.

"But I go to church," you retort.

Is that enough?  Don't you feel a yearning for more?

The 2 * 0 * 4 Lifestyle can give you more.  It focuses on the mind and the body and the heart AND the soul.

Set goals for all four parts of your life.  Motivate yourself with daily check-offs.  Use progress meters to evaluate shifts of focus or new changes to make.

How can one planner help me with this?

Come back tomorrow for more information in our week of promos.  We have seven different covers to highlight.  Or head over to Amazon.  Currently priced at $12.00, this planner is a bargain for a year's worth of guidance.

And you will have a beautiful cover to spark joy every time you see it.

By the way, many dispute that Lewis said the opening quotation;  however, he did say that we have an organic unity.  Since he came to know his scripture very well (after J.R.R. Tolkien showed him Christ), I will guarantee that he was familiar Luke 10:27:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."

Find the floral 2 * 0 * 4 here, exclusively on Amazon.

Free Fiction: Fantasy by Edie Roones

Over a Writers Ink, it's Free Fiction for W.Ink Wednesday.  This month W.Ink promotes Edie Roones' first novel, Summer Sieges.

Get a taste of this alternate medieval fantasy here and find out more information here.  Her books are exclusively on Amazon.

Just Released: Meadow Version of the 2 * 0 * 4 Planner

A Planner for Life: That was the intent in the development of the 2 * 0 * 4 Planner.

Screenshot from cover designer at Deranged Doctor Design, showing front and back covers side-by-side

We were singing: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength."

That's from Luke 10:27.  To place this verse in context:

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Heart.  Soul.  Strength.  Mind.

Too much in society tells us to focus on improving our bodies.  How many of your New Year's Resolutions are about diet and exercise, stress and sleep?  How many dream of vacations where all you do is sleep late then lay on the beach (and get sunburned)?

Society all tells us that our minds are very important.  We school our children for 12+ plus years.  We urge them to attend college for even more years, 2 or 4 or 6 or 8.  Many of us involve ourselves in Bible studies of some sort, or we read self-help articles, or we peruse magazines or take online courses.  We don't want our minds to stagnant.  Even when we're tired of work, we still pay attention to baseball standings or other sport scores.  Or we get involved in craft classes.  We constantly learn.  Often, improving our minds becomes one or two of those New Year's Resolutions.

Our hearts are our relationships, and many of our self-help readings or discussions involve ways to improve our relationships with family and friends.  Yet even though we intend this improvement of our heart circles, we don't think about turning these intentions into New Year's Resolutions.

And the thing that is consistently neglected on many people's New Year's Resolutions:  that's the Soul.

We ARE a Soul.  A soul with a beating heart for others, a curious mind, and a working body.  We think about improving heart, mind, and body.  We should work on soul improvements as well.

I'm preaching, aren't I?  Time for marketing.

And the 2 * 0 * 4 planner can help improve Heart and Soul, Mind and Body.

How can one planner do this?

Well, come back tomorrow for more information in our week of promos.  We have seven different covers to highlight.  Or head over to Amazon.  Currently priced at $12.00, this planner is a bargain for a year's worth of guidance.

And you will have a beautiful cover to spark joy every time you see it.

Monster Monday: Pesky Verb Trolls

Those pesky irregular verbs have tooken over.

Wait, that's not a word.  It's taken.

Oh, yes, it's Monster Monday.

Need more explanation?

Writer's Block doesn't Exist

In Think like a Pro, I offer a whole chapter of strategies to overcome Writer's Block.

As a matter of fact, I speak writers' world heresy because I believe that "Writer's Block doesn't exist."

Don't believe me?  Here's my blog and a link to my book on Amazon.  Two covers to choose from!

Check back with us on 9/20 for a link to a Diagnostic Quiz

to determine which problem is blocking your writing.

Buying a Planner?

2 * 0 * 4 Lifestyle Planner

~ for those of us who want to celebrate our achievements

Feasting and fasting, musing and and moving, building relationships, and avoiding stagnation.

Picking a Cover's the Difficulty:

Vote at winkbooks@aol.com

Your vote will not add you to a mailing list. ;)

Gift from the Sea

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea was formative for me.  It's a book that I've long promoted to friends and students, whenever they asked for recommendations.

You can find it here, in the 50th anniversary edition.

The main Facebook page for Writers' Ink, my publisher, is celebrating encounters with AML's book all through August and September on Snippet Saturday:  You may be able to find the first AML post here.

Whenever I'm beachy keen--and that's not for crowded beaches in the heat of summer, but afterwards, when it's me and the sand and the waves and the sun casting south--that's the time that I reach for Gift from the Sea.