Singing or dancing or speaking from the heart is soulful—expressing our deepest feelings. Soulful living is right brain stuff, like singing, dancing, playing, loving and creating. The soul helps us to be imaginative, intuitive and to get in touch with our emotions. When people say, “My gut feeling tells me thus and so,” they are coming from the soul. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” (Proverbs 23:7). We tend to become what we think about, similar to the old adage, “You are what you eat.” We can literally think ourselves into a depression or anxiety in no time at all. What we think about produces our feelings. If we change our thoughts, our feelings will follow.
All this is not to downplay the role of the mind at all. The brain is a miraculous gift from the Creator God. It helps us to choose, learn, solve problems and so on. It can also be our worst enemy or our best friend. As long as we identify with the mind, we will pollute it with worry, anger, fear and so on. You are more than just your mind. You are a spirit. People who master life refuse to be pushed around by negative thoughts. This is not to hide your head in the sand, but if you listen to the voice in your head exclusively, you may end up judging, comparing, complaining and imagining the worst. The mind can play tricks on you, and play old “tapes” such as, “I’ll never amount to anything,” or, “I don’t belong,” or, “I don’t have any talent,” etc.
We live in a time when the mind is suffering form information overload. We are almost forced into head-living by trying to keep up with the internet, numbers, systems, charts, gains and losses, and other stress-producing technological advances. Soulful living, or spiritual growth will just have to wait until we can take care of business, which may take too long, if we are not careful. So, find time to give expression to the needs of your spirit. Take time for soulful living. Get in touch with your dreams. Wake up to the beauty of creation. Find time to meditate and to pray, and feel your connection to all living things.
I believe that the Apostle Paul knew a lot of this soul-mind stuff long ago when he wrote to the Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). In the meantime, keep watch over your mind, not as your master, but your slave. The mind is a great instrument; I wouldn’t leave home without it.