| What's Cooking in Your Soul? |
Introduction Often, I question what is stirring within my soul, directing my life. Do you feel lost? Are you seeking to find a clear direction? Is it time for you to leave your 9-to-5 job and seek your soul’s fulfillment or fulfill your heart’s desire? Do you feel that if only you could find that one "secret ingredient," you would be able to succeed with your plans? Search no more. I can tell you where to find the secret ingredient to your life’s desires. It lies within your soul. It may be locked away by years of hurt and pain, but if you dig deep enough and learn how to rid yourself of the negative energy and forgive past experiences in your life, you will be able to uncover what you desire. T his book was designed to stir up the passions of your soul and provide answers to the provocative questions of the meaning and purpose of your life. What’s Cooking in Your Soul will help you to analyze your life and all of the relationships and situations within it. Are you being placed in situations that make you angry or stressed? Is the temperature of your life too hot? Alternatively, are you feeling left behind and out-of-date, allowing your temperature to become ice cold? Have you stayed too long in one place and allowed your soul to become overdone and stale? Is your life that of a cookie cutter person or have you allowed yourself to become the true vision of what God intended you to be? What is cooking in your soul at this moment?A re you in a similar situation to the one that I was in? Were you married for the majority of your adult life, only to file for divorce? Have you looked for love in all of the wrong places, only to find disappointment and heartbreak? Be honest with yourself and look at the needs of your soul. Imagine that you have a mirror that reflects, not your outside image, but the needs and desires of your soul. Do you like what you see? These needs and desires are often, unknowingly, portrayed through your life and shown in glaring light to those around you. Is there someone in your life at whom you can simply glance and see what they need and desire?N eale Donald Walsch wrote in his book, Conversations with God, "when human love relationships fail (relationships never truly fail except in the strictly human sense that they did not produce what you want), they fail because they were entered into for the wrong reason" (1996, p. 122-123). He states that we often enter into relationships for the wrong reasons because we do not have our priorities set on what is best for our lives.Most people enter into relationships with an eye toward what they can get out of them, rather than what they can put into them. The purpose of a relationship is to decide what part of yourself you’d like to see ‘show up,’ not what part of another you can capture and hold. There can be only one purpose for relationships and for all of life: to be and to decide who you really are. It is very important to say that now that your special other has entered your life, you feel complete. Yet the purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you; but to have another with whom you might share your completeness (1996, p. 122-123). Walsch goes on to say that the paradox of all human relationships is that "you have no need for a particular other in order for you to experience, fully, Who You Are, and… without another, you are nothing" (1996, p. 123). I am the mother of six wonderful adult children. Growing up, each had his or her own trials, rebellions, drug addictions, and tribulations. I show these events within this book. Chapter 11 in my third book, Poise for the Runway of Your Life (2008), is dedicated to my son, a member of the Special Forces, who used drugs between the ages of 12 to 20. In this book, Chapters 1 and 9 focus on my children, written from the point of view of a parent who has been there.T he purpose of this book is to provide you with a fresh positive perspective on how to move forward in your life and mix yourself a new future. Take a bowl and spoon. Stir in your favorite ingredients and then read the real life stories within this book. Allow them to rise and use the oven of your soul to bake the ingredients with healing, insight, empowerment, inspiration, grace, ease, abundance, prosperity, health, happiness, and success.D ear Reader:I t is Sunday, December 6, 2009. I have been up since 5 a.m. writing to you this winter morning. I fixed my fresh vegetable juice and my herbal tea sweetened with raw honey. An incense of rose is burning as soft music plays in the background. As you begin mixing the recipe for your new life, remember, I am no different from you and must continue to mix my ingredients in order to create the life that I desire. You and I shall travel together on our runways to the lives that we desire.Mediations T ake some cleansing breaths. Release all of the thoughts that have been poured into your soul as if emptying a mixing bowl into the sink in your kitchen. Let go of the fear, doubt, and worry that has kept you from achieving success in your life. These negative vibrations tear at your soul’s foundation and cause your mixture to fail to rise. Allow yourself to accept that the laws of the universe are working in your favor.E nvision what you want to stir up within your soul. Can you see it? Can you feel it? How does it taste? Can you believe and expect it? Do you want to write and publish a book? Do you want a big or small family? Is it time to lay down the "mask of self-deception" that comes with working a job that you do not enjoy? Are you ready to climb the ladder to the top or do you want to stay at the bottom wishing for something greater? Do you have a sacred source into which you can place your trust?S it in a receiving posture, much like when in prayer. Open your hands to God and ask the questions above. What are the needs of your soul’s yearnings? Meditate on your soul’s yearnings. Meditation allows you to see what your soul wants you to see, much like prayer. Envision the thing that you desire the most. Close your eyes and open your mind’s eye. Dream your life the way that you want it to be. Give yourself permission to dream. Now, open your eyes and look around the room. Become aware of your surroundings. Feel your dreams and hold them in your mind’s eye. Give thanks to God for all that is coming your way. Be happy. So be it.S ugar and spice are so very nice. When added to your life, they will make everything all right. Blended with the right intentions, efforts, and thoughts, you can stir up all that God has in store for you. Be open to receiving the good that He is sending your way.R emember, transformation does not happen in one simple step. You can only add one ingredient at a time; the wait may make you frustrated, but know that when the time and temperature are just right, your mixture will bake into the life that you desire. At the end of each chapter, you will find a Vibration Cooking recipe to help you on your journey.I will leave you with the words of Raymond Holliwell, spiritual author and teacher, as he shares insights from his book, Working with the Law.Most of us could meet our obligations if it were not for fear of some kind that tells us differently. We hypnotize ourselves into a belief, which incapacitates our power. Fear clouds our vision, it benumbs our faculties, it paralyzes our mental forces, which must be free and active if we are to avert calamity. When man’s mind is confused by fear, he is in no condition to accept an opportunity. God does not give us the spirit of fear, but courage and a sound mind (1964, p. 174). M any Blessings,C arol S. Batey |