Evolving Beings

It is my utmost pleasure to introduce to you all another extraordinary “Evolving Being in Action”.  The featured inspirational story for this month comes to us from Lance Ekum.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lance virtually online, during the early fall of 2008. Lance has his own site called Jungle of Life, where he writes excellent articles about life and personal growth. His site is dedicated to each of us discovering more about who we are and what makes us each unique. Each Sunday he features a “Sunday Thought For the Day“, and from time to time he has various wonderful guest authors featured on his site as well.

I quickly learned that Lance is not only full of energy, enthusiasm and extreme kindness, but also an inspiring individual who is on an amazing path of self-discovery. Lance gives every single one of his readers his attention with thoughful comments and is always full of gratitude and appreciation when learning from others.

Hence I was thrilled when he decided to have his story featured of how he is an “evolving being in action” here on EvolvingBeings.com.  You will find Lance’s story very real and applicable to many of our own lives. Some of us have big, life-changing “aha” moments in our lives, and some of us ride the wave of life which changes us gradually each day. There is no one right way to go, all of our journeys are unique. All of us can learn and be inspired by each other’s paths.

Each of you will find Lance’s story inspirational in its own unique way. He offers great perspective on how and why we get to the places we do in our lives and what do we do once there. What was most profound for me was the theme of “balance”. This is an area of life that I find crucial, as balanced living can perhaps be one of the biggest aspects of living a truly purpose and meaning filled life.

So without any further adieu, here is Lance and his inspirational story of his personal evolution thus far and words of wisdom for us all:

What area(s) of your spiritual/emotional life have you decided to change and why?

Let’s jump to life in my late 20′s and early 30′s. While there was nothing major that caused any shift, what I found was life became “going through the motions”. Not that I recognized it as that at the time. And as I continued down this path, I became more and more disconnected from a deeper sense of purpose.

What strategies have you implemented to change, who inspired you, person or organization, book, etc.?

I’d like to say there was some “big” moment where a shift toward more positive and conscious living began, except there wasn’t. It really began with my health. As, during this time, I’d also neglected my body. And while this had occurred, I came to eventually realize that being overweight was playing a role in how I “accepted” myself. At the same time, my wife and I were planning a getaway to celebrate our ten year anniversary, and I wanted to look “good” on the beach. So, I started exercising, and changing my diet. What this led to was so much more than “the way I look”. I came to realize that healthy starts from the inside, and it matters more how I feel than how I look. And this all led to a near-obsession with eating healthy (ask my kids about chicken and broccoli!) and working out. And while I may have veered a little too far from center, it was still so much better than before. And this also just led right into my own mental/emotional health.

During this time, there was also a book that I found much inspiration from, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. And in particular, what I kept coming back to was his seventh principle – “Sharpen the Saw” - or all about self-renewal.

And over the last five years, that shift has been in place, and the evolution has been life-changing. And I’m not here to say that by life-changing, there’s been some great big bright flash in my life. It’s been much more gradual, yet it’s been exactly that -life-changing – just not overnight. I feel so much more connected to “me”, and just more aware of life around me…and how precious that is.

How have the changes benefited your overall life, happiness up to this point?

So, the one constant we have in our lives is change. And we are multi-dimensional beings. There’s this whole concept of balancing all these dimensions of our lives. Physical, emotional, spiritual. On this path I’ve been going down that last few years, paying more attention to all of these areas has played a much bigger part in my life. I won’t say that it’s always been balanced – or for that matter, that it is today. Balance is a hard thing. For me. Take the physical side. I reached a point a couple of years ago where my physical health was the best it’s ever been. And I felt great…physically. At the same time, I was not giving equal attention to the realms of emotional and spiritual health. And they faltered a bit. Today, I’m more focused on my emotional/spiritual health…and physical health has fallen off a bit.

This is good for me to think about. Today. How can I stay more balanced in my life? Some days are easier than others. I’m certainly not “there” yet. And maybe “there” is a place we never fully reach. This idea of evolving, to me, is something that never ends. It’s much more a journey than a destination.

What are the next steps or goals in your life as an evolving being?

What’s next in my life? Well…that’s a tough question for me, Evita. If life were certain, if things just fell into place, if I could just feel assured that it would all work out. If. If. If.

The future is not certain or guaranteed for any of us. What we have is now. So, in the now – I’m focusing on my writing (which has deep meaning to me), working toward being a better parent and spouse, connecting in meaningful ways with other people, and making each day count. I don’t know, maybe that seems a bit “out there”. And maybe it is. Making each day count? What does that mean anyway?

I’ve recently been involved in some very wonderful life coaching, to help me get a better grasp of what I see my destiny as being, and then going out and designing it. And it’s been an empowering connection for me. And it’s given me a base from which to build off of, and really a base from which that concept of “making each day count” starts at.

How can I live my life more in line with the principles I believe? What holds me back from taking those next steps? What are the greatest gifts I have to offer? What is it that matters deeply to me? Hmmm…it looks like the near future involves answering lots of questions! And that’s good for me, and good for my soul.

Evolving. Being. The whole idea of “be” in being is becoming more of a focus for me. It’s becoming about really being in the moments of life. This would be the opposite of that “going through the motions” phase of earlier years. When I can “be” within my life, I’m connecting to something deeper and more meaningful.

What message do you have for others who are struggling or embarking on a similar journey?

This is YOUR journey. This is YOUR life. You can choose how to live it. You can choose which directions to take your life in. And it doesn’t matter where you’ve been in the past, or where you are now. What matters is that YOU have the choice in how to live.

Choose to really and deeply live your life. Be “alive” in all the moments of your days. Embrace that inner voice. Take some chances. Dare to live your dreams!

Evita, thanks so much for having me here today. It’s been a complete pleasure and a true honor to walk alongside you on your own journey these past several months, to have your caring support along my journey, and especially to share part of that here today. You have created such a wonderful and supportive community, and that’s testament to all of the heart and soul you put in to all you do! Evita, thank you, once again – for the many and abundant gifts you bring to our world!