S.O.A.K. an Acronym for All of Life

SOAK an Acronym for All of Life

Soak: Immersed for prolonged period to be softened

Absorb:  Saturate completely by absorption until no more can be held

Steep:  Extraction of the essence

The definition of these words will come into play as we go but for now let’s go back to SOAK and what it stands for, afterall I claimed it was an acronym for life. 

S - Study

O - Obey 

A - Apply 

K - Know

How does this apply to all of life?  Well, let me explain :)  

No matter what it is, where you are, what you are doing these 4 simple steps will get you to your end goal.  Be cautious, however because the temptation to get caught up in just one and stall out is there.  Keep pressing forward.  

Let’s say you want to start a new hobby or maybe you want to change careers, lose weight, become better at something you already do, deepen a new or existing relationship.  The first place you’re going to start is by studying.  Studying the things you do and don’t know.  Perhaps all of it is new.  Maybe you want to start crocheting but you don’t know the first thing about how to do it or what you need.  You’ll need to study up on what supplies you need, what techniques to start with, how to progress and how to put it all together to complete projects.  

Once you’ve studied the steps and have gotten the supplies and learned the tools of the trade, you must obey those things you’ve studied.  You don’t get to just start making it up as you go.  Now, that’s not to say stifle your creativity and forever commit to do things by the book. No matter what skill you are trying to learn, whether it's in crafting all the way to relationship building there are certain principles you have to obey to get the desired outcome.  

Apply your knowledge.  This is where things start to get fun.  Once you become good at something, once you possess a level of expertise then you can start applying your creativity.  Back to our crochet example, now that you know the basics, you can start designing your own patterns, try different stitches, combine things to make something totally unique.  But without that baseline of studying and obeying the “rules” of the trade you will never get to this point.  

And finally Know.  Know that you are proficient in this skill.  That doesn’t mean you can’t still be learning and adjusting, tweaking and changing things.  But at some point you have to know that you know something.  You’ve been through the steps and put it all together and now you know that you can successfully do it.  

It might seem strange to apply this acronym to a relationship but I assure you not only does it work you will see the rewards and reap the benefits of SOAKing in your life.  

Earlier we defined the words soak, absorb and steep.  Soaking is softening… the whole process is softening your heart, your mind, your body to learning something new.  Absorbing is really taking in what you’ve been working on and learning and knowing it at soul level and steeping is extracting the essence.  

When we’re looking to relationships with this acronym these are qualities we want.  We want to be soft towards our partner; we want to study them, obey how they take in information, apply our knowledge so we can best communicate and know that not only do we understand them but they understand us and how we are trying to deepen the relationship.  

In relationships we are also looking to absorb, like a sponge, absorb who the other person is, really “get” who they are, what their goals and dreams are and how you either do or don’t make a perfect match and how you can support and encourage each other through the journey of your relationship.

Steep the relationship, pull out the essence of who and what you are together and separately.  Maybe there are some communication barriers, maybe it’s hard to explain in particular area of life what you need or what they need, maybe sometimes things just get tricky with poorly chosen words or actions but when you steep the relationship, when you have pulled out the essence, you are able to get to the bottom of what the real meaning is more easily and more quickly.  Your heart recognizes what is lacking when you steep in the relationship.  

Now look, whether it's a hobby or a relationship, career, etc… this doesn’t happen overnight.  SOAKing, absorbing, steeping all take time and practice.  When you are willing to do the work though everyone benefits.  

Try really breaking it down in terms of a process for simple things like hobbies or big complicated things like relationships… How much have you studied?  How much have/are you obeying?  How much have you applied?  How much do you know?  Have you absorbed all that you can?  Do you know the essence?  Is your heart softened towards growth?

Put the work in!  No matter what it is, if your heart desires it, it’s worth the work.