Archive for the ‘staying present’ Category

The approach of the New Year is a time of being on the cusp, of having that rare opportunity to be looking backwards and forwards at the same time. Truly, it’s one of the few times in our modern American culture where we can feel what it means to “be in the present”. Everything – past & future – hangs in the balance. We take a deep breath and pause, albeit briefly, to examine ourselves.

Inspired by a fellow coach’s practice of creating Vision Boards each year, I created my own Vision Board for 2009. (If you don’t know, a Vision Board is a homemade collage on poster-board with words and images that are inspiring to you and your vision for yourself.) My theme for 2009 has been “Being in Flow”. It hangs on the wall to the left of my desk, and each time I look at it, I am reminded to “cherish the moment”, “ creative a life you love”, “follow your path” and “choose a positive thought”. The images I chose reflect water in a variety of locales, such as a waterfall in a garden, the ocean, water flowing around rocks, a bridge over water, etc. Throughout the year, I’ve found myself glancing at these images and remembering to be in flow with myself and what life presents.

A Vision Board is an excellent way to stay inspired throughout the year. Of course, you can make a Vision Board for any occasion – mainly it’s a visual cue or reminder of your goals and dreams for yourself – how you envision your life. Whether you make one to help you envision a new home, a new (or improved) romantic relationship or a new job, a Vision Board is a fun, creative and meaningful picture of where you want to be.

So, what will your Vision Board look like for 2010? Grab a bunch of old catalogs, magazines, greeting cards, etc. and go to work collecting those words and images that inspire you. You don’t have to know ahead of time what your theme is. Sometimes the theme becomes apparent as you find yourself drawn to certain images.

My theme for my Vision Board this year is “Receive & Allow”. Like many of you I can find myself giving – till it hurts. I want to consciously practice receiving – with grace and gratitude. Also, I want to “allow” – to let things happen as they may, rather than constantly struggling to “make” things go the way I want. While I am a firm believer in taking action to achieve your goals and aspirations, I know I can fall prey to the desire to grip my goals by the throat in a vain attempt to control the outcome. Which, then, leads me to feel let down when things don’t go the way I want. Which, subsequently leads to me beating myself up for not “doing it right” – whatever that’s supposed to be.

So, in 2010, I consciously Receive & Allow. My Vision Board will be a supportive reminder to me, helping me to not only remember what my theme is, but to feel inspired to return to the theme when I get off track.

Have fun creating your Vision Board for 2010 and I wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!

I’m going to take a risk.

Taking a risk is about going out on a limb; about letting go of the outcome; about staying present in the “not-knowing” place between here & now and there & then.

If you’re reading this, you probably have taken some risks in your life. Perhaps they were frightening. Perhaps they worked out great. Perhaps they were frightening AND they worked out great. Perhaps you’re even debating about taking a risk right now.

I’ve been taking a lot of risks over the past several years, and, so far, so good. Well, good enough for me anyway. The ways I’m choosing to live my life might not be comfortable for some, or might not be risky enough for others. It’s up to each of us to determine how much risk we can tolerate. It also gets easier with practice.

I’m taking the risk of starting this blog. I hope that reading it will be enlightening for you; I’m sure that writing it will be enjoyable for me.

I named my coaching practice “Serene Coaching” because it is my goal to help my clients find their way to a sense of serenity.

But I want to share with you the fact that the path to serenity can be full of risks. The path to serenity is the path to self-knowledge; it is the path to self-confidence; it is the path to self-love. The path to serenity calls us to change the direction in which we’ve been headed for a long time. Serenity calls us to let go of our old ways of being, to acknowledge the yearnings within us that we have become so adept at suppressing all this time.

Serenity calls us to step into a life of meaning, a life where we can make a difference in our world just by being who we are. Being who we are can, in and of itself, constitute a risk for some of us. Yet being who we are is a courageous act. Knowing yourself and choosing to show up as yourself is extremely rewarding both for you and for the people with whom you interact.

But, yes, it is a risk. What are we risking when we take the first step on the path to serenity?

Read my next post to learn more…