{"id":382,"date":"2014-04-22T19:26:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T19:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/?p=382"},"modified":"2014-04-22T19:26:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T19:26:40","slug":"you-can-design-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html","title":{"rendered":"You Can Design Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jodi<\/a>The other day, after looking at my calendar and seeing how jam packed the upcoming week, month, year was, I started to feel panicky. The days are full. Completely full. They are the kind of days where I wonder how it\u2019s all going to get done. They are the kind of days where I know it can\u2019t all possibly get done. They are filled with to-dos, check lists, calls, and emails, writing deadlines, and work, work, and more work. They are the days where I move from one task to another \u2013 mindful of getting each one finished but not particularly mindful of the bigger picture and how I fit into it and how this is all part of my purpose. I didn\u2019t see much downtime on the schedule or much self care or much space for being.<\/span>\u00a0And I could feel my chest begin to tighten.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, in these moments of overwhelm, I need to move away from it before I completely go into hysterics. I can feel my soul crying out that it needs me to slow down, and so I either lie down and pull the covers up or go to the couch, wrap myself in a blanket, and turn on the TV \u2013 which is what I did on this particular day.<\/p>\n

Oprah was on, and she mentioned that years ago she was telling Jerry Seinfeld that she was really tired, that she wasn\u2019t looking forward to going back to her show (which at that point still had several years left to be on the air). He told her to stop whining and realize that she had the power to design her own life.<\/strong> Because of that conversation, she made the decision to end her show and to create space in her life to do the things that she wanted to do \u2013 the things that fed her soul.<\/p>\n

A light bulb went on in my head, and I realized that this was the exact message that I needed to hear right then.\u00a0I, too, have the power to design my life. We all do.\u00a0<\/strong>If there is something that I don\u2019t like about it, I can change it. Maybe not immediately, but I can begin taking steps to remedy whatever is hurting my soul.<\/p>\n

For me, not having enough time to myself \u2013 time to go within, write, reflect, and BE \u2013 was weighing heavy on my heart and making me not super excited about my life in general. When I looked at the schedule, I was missing from it. And I knew that this was something that I had the power to change.<\/p>\n

I create my schedule. And so if I\u2019m not on it, I can change that. I can move appointments around or shift how I run my business in order to make sure that my own needs are met. If I look at something and feel that it no longer feeds my soul, I can take it out of the schedule or at least make plans to eliminate it in the near future.<\/p>\n

This is something that I knew, but I hadn\u2019t taken action on. And sometimes, all it takes is hearing it from a loving messenger (for me, in the form of Oprah) to wake us up and help us to take action.<\/p>\n

I hope that I can serve as a loving messenger for you right now.<\/p>\n

Is there any part of your life that you aren\u2019t happy about \u2013 that you would like to change? Would you be willing to believe that you have the power to design your own life \u2013 that you can start right now to begin making changes to create whatever kind of life you want?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can start slowly \u2013 begin with awareness. Start by just imagining what your ideal life would look like. And then take baby steps to begin making it your reality.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking at my schedule in a completely different way now. And I love seeing that I\u2019m back on it \u2013 big pockets of downtime where I can have some space and time for myself.<\/p>\n

That feels amazing. And I\u2019ll be much more present for others when I\u2019ve honored my own needs in this way.<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ll take some time to reflect on your own life and see how you would like to design it. It matters because you matter.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hugs,<\/p>\n

Jodi<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"about
\n<\/a>Jodi Chapman is a bestselling author, an award-winning blogger, and a soulful community builder.\u00a0She lives her life with love and faith in the driver\u2019s seat, and she hopes to leave a trail of inspiration wherever she goes. She believes that we each have the ability to hear our soul\u2019s whisper and create our best lives. She would love to connect with you!<\/p>\n

Website<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0\u00a0Free Ebook\u00a0& Meditation<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0\u00a0Soulful Life Sanctuary<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day, after looking at my calendar and seeing how jam packed the upcoming week, month, year was, I started to feel panicky. The days are full. Completely full. They are the kind of days where I wonder how it\u2019s all going to get done. They are the kind of days where I know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,87,2,3,85,86],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-choice","tag-create","tag-heart-of-the-soul","tag-jodi-chapman","tag-life","tag-oprah"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Can Design Your Life - Heart of the Soul<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Can Design Your Life - Heart of the Soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The other day, after looking at my calendar and seeing how jam packed the upcoming week, month, year was, I started to feel panicky. The days are full. Completely full. They are the kind of days where I wonder how it\u2019s all going to get done. They are the kind of days where I know…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Heart of the Soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-22T19:26:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/files\/2014\/04\/power-to-create-copy-300x298.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jodi Chapman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You Can Design Your Life - Heart of the Soul","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You Can Design Your Life - Heart of the Soul","og_description":"The other day, after looking at my calendar and seeing how jam packed the upcoming week, month, year was, I started to feel panicky. The days are full. Completely full. They are the kind of days where I wonder how it\u2019s all going to get done. They are the kind of days where I know…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html","og_site_name":"Heart of the Soul","article_published_time":"2014-04-22T19:26:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/files\/2014\/04\/power-to-create-copy-300x298.jpg"}],"author":"Jodi Chapman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html","name":"You Can Design Your Life - Heart of the Soul","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/files\/2014\/04\/power-to-create-copy-300x298.jpg","datePublished":"2014-04-22T19:26:40+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-22T19:26:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/#\/schema\/person\/c648eb97ca40c7503f05db1376bc947f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/files\/2014\/04\/power-to-create-copy-300x298.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/files\/2014\/04\/power-to-create-copy-300x298.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/2014\/04\/you-can-design-your-life.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You Can Design Your Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/","name":"Heart of the Soul","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Jodi Chapman","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/#\/schema\/person\/c648eb97ca40c7503f05db1376bc947f","name":"Jodi Chapman","description":"Jodi Chapman is a bestselling author, an award-winning blogger, and an inspirational community builder. She wears her heart on her sleeve and tends to attract others into her life who do the same. It\u2019s her heart\u2019s desire to help others reconnect with their soul and plug back into their life. After experiencing a spiritual awakening in October 2010, she went from being a complete skeptic to a believer in miracles and the magic that is always occurring all around us. She now lives her life with love and faith in the driver\u2019s seat, and she hopes to leave a trail of inspiration wherever she goes. She believes that we each have the ability to hear our soul\u2019s whisper and create our best lives. Jodi Chapman is the author of the award-winning blog, Soul Speak, the creator of several inspirational ecourses, a soulful guide, and the co-author of the bestselling\u00a0Soulful Journals series, which she wrote with her husband, Dan Teck. She lives in southern Oregon with her beautiful best friend\/soulmate Dan. They share their lives with three wonderful cats: Biddle, Buncom, and Elsie. She would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter! And you can also join her Soul Speak community: www.jodichapman.com. Be sure to download her free ebook, Journaling from the Soul, here!","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jodichapman.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/author\/jchapman"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/heartofthesoul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}