|
"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Coaching Services Books by Benita Workbooks and CDs Keynotes and Workshops * * * * * * * * * * This newsletter is sent to you by Life Matters Coaching. Copyright © 2006, Benita Stafford-Smith and Life Matters Coaching. All rights reserved. Nothing in this newsletter may be reproduced or published without the written permission of the individual author and/or copyright owner. |
The Coach Approach Authenticity, Passion, the Art of Being, and Dreams What is authenticity? I received a phone message from a friend today sharing her wonder and enthusiasm at discovering flowers peeking out of the earth in her flower garden. Her enthusiasm was infectious. She was the epitome of authenticity. How are we authentic? In his book, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, Gregg Levoy identifies sign reading as a way to search for authenticity. Here's his list of signs: • A dream that keeps coming back, or what it is
that pursues you in dreams. Levoy also identifies calls as questions. Questions that you don't need to answer outright, but questions to which you need to respond, expose yourself and kneel before. He states these questions (callings) offer a lifetime of pondering and help you understand what it means to burst at the seams. What questions do you kneel before or offer you a lifetime of pondering? Want to add to Levoy's list of signs? Email me, benita@lifematterscoaching.com. * * * * * Week Two: Passion This week we explore passion as a way to authenticity. Passion is a state of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm originated from the Greek language, signifying the God within us. "Passion is what we are most curious about,
most hungry for. It is what we pursue for it's own sake, what
we study when there are no tests to write and what we create
though no one may see it." Webster's dictionary defines passion as an intense emotion leading to action. It is interesting that passion is associated with action. When I'm doing something I'm passionate about, time seems to be non-existent; I am totally absorbed in what I am doing oblivious to the world around me. Yet paradoxically I never feel more alive, more connected to the world around me. Here's a wonderful exercise from Deena Mertzer in her book, Writing for your Life: There is a sudden knock at your door. A trusted friend enters to warn you that the Dream Police will arrive in 20 minutes. Everything, everything in your life that you have not written down will evaporate upon their arrival. You have only 20 minutes to preserve what is most precious in your life, what has formed you, what sustains you, what is essential, what you cannot live without. Gregg Levoy adds further to this exercise: This week I invite you to play with passion. Let passion awaken and see how it guides your journey to authenticity. Your insights, comments and thoughts are always welcomed. * * * * * Week Three: The Art of Being Is the Art of Being a lost art today? This is the third step in our exploration of authenticity. To be we must live in the present using the past and the future as a framework to experience the present fully. So what are you being? Note I did not ask what you will be or what you were but what are you being? Neale Donald Walsh best describes the Art of Being in his book Conversations with God. He says we live in a world of Have Do Be but invites us to change that around and start living a live of Be Do Have. When I have that thing called time, I will take that thing called vacation and then I will be relaxed and peaceful. When I have that title called Vice President, I will be make important decisions and then I will be successful. Walsh says we need start with the Be. When we are being peaceful we will do what peaceful people do and eventually we will have what peaceful people have. To be, we must live in the present encompassing the past and the future with absolute awareness that the past and the future do not affect the present. No matter what happened in the past it is not happening right here, right now. Yet many times, we invite the past into today. I cannot do that because I tried it once and failed. I am not smart because I did not graduate with honors. I have not been successful at _________ (you fill in the in the blank) therefore I will never be successful at __________. When you find yourself with these thoughts I invite you to chase the ghosts of the past away and live in the present. Now let's consider the future. We can take all these past limitations and project them forward to our future if we wish. It's up to us. The other way to avoid living in the present is to live in the future. Things will be better when—I have a better job, a new car, a bigger house, a degree. Interestingly enough, often once we get these things we quickly replace them with a new list of better "when I have." Today I encourage you to throw away your limitations and to just be. Enjoy being and you will find the doing and having simply evolving from your being. "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today
is a gift, that's why we call it the present." Your insights, comments and thoughts are always welcomed. * * * * * Week Two: Dreams Our fourth and final step in exploring authenticity this month is a look at the role of dreams I believe that authentic people dream big and dream often. It is part of the fiber of being authentic—discovering your true self, being genuine and credible. Now I already hear some of you saying, dreamers aren’t authentic, they don’t live in the real world! I hope to give you a different perspective on this thought. Dreaming opens us up to possibilities. Not all these possibilities become realities but the process of dreaming brings us to the exploration stage. As we explore our dreams, thoughts and hopes we explore possibilities or potential realities. Each step in the exploration process brings us closer and closer to our next reality. It is the process of exploring and dreaming that create the next reality for us. It is through the process of discovering, feeling, imagining and exploring possibilities that a dream starts to take form. We discover ways to make our dreams come true. “Shoot for the moon, at least you’ll reach the stars.” by Grey Owl. This quote speaks to dreaming big. If you start small you are guaranteed to end small, what happens if you start big? “What we need is more people who specialize in the
impossible.” by Fortunately for us most of the world’s great inventors and thinkers haven’t listened to the naysayers but instead followed their dreams. This week I encourage you to begin exploring your dreams and watch how just the process of dreaming brings you closer to your authentic self! Your insights, comments and thoughts are always welcomed. |
