Assess: Opening

Musing…  

“None of us can help the things life has done to us. They’re done before you realize it, and once they’re done they make you do other things until at last everything comes between you and what you’d like to be, and you’ve lost your true self forever.”
     -- Eugene O'Neill from Long Day's Journey into Night

In January, I wrote about freeing ourselves of any aspect that doesn’t reflect the truth of who we are. That clarity of purpose allows us to root ourselves in our being and blossom according to our intention to be who we are.

And yet, life happens. Choosing actions that sabotage this intention act like weeds in a garden-- starting small and spreading quickly, choking out the intended blossoming. This seems like a perfect time to reassess the choices we are making that are reflected in the garden we now are. Learning from our setbacks, and sticking to our meaningful purpose/vision can look like weeding and fertilizing so as to open the space that ensures the blooming which delights and gratifies.

Kate’s Turn:   

I have been busy weeding out the fears of public speaking so I have more opening to share my work.  In the past, this has choked my intention to reach more people through leading workshops, retreats and presentations.  I have revised my website; I am networking to make connections with folks who may benefit from my work. And now I’m choosing to focus on moving forward: speaking to the truth I carry so that this blossoming of mine can benefit others. When I defy my fears, I’m elated. Living out my purpose causes me to be happy, like a river of joy moving through me

 

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you. A joy.”  -- Rumi

Each choice becomes either a “Yes” to my purpose, or a surrender to my fear. And each action strengthens a pattern, a habit that embodies in my character. I not only intend to blossom – I CHOOSE to blossom, weeding out my fears one at a time. 

Get Fired Up:

As you reassess your intentions to express who you are, what “weeding” needs to occur in order to allow more opening? What is needed for you to blossom more fully? How are you sowing your character in each choice you make?

“Sow a thought and you reap an act; Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a habit and you reap a character; Sow a character and you reap a destiny.” -- Samuel Smiles

Assess: Landing

Scene from "Crowning of the Woodland Queen" by
Ancient Rhythms Dance Company

Musing…

“Every true dancer has a peculiar arrest of movement, an intensity which animates his whole being. It may be called Spirit, or Dramatic Intensity, or Imagination.” – Martha Graham

Charise's Turn:

In January I wrote a blog entry titled “Assess: Lift Off”. After six months it’s time to assess again, to see where lifting off has led: additional yoga classes to teach, a lead role in a dance theatre production. One of my wings is soaring; the other – the one related to coaching, writing, consulting – is hanging. Maybe it’s stuck to my back…but really, all of me is soaring with yoga and dance at this time. Hmmm…assess…this is where a good coach could step in and ask me some helpful questions. Those out of the box questions like, “How can your coaching endeavors be carried by the momentum of your yoga/dance endeavors?” All of a sudden my stalled coaching endeavors have energy – borrowing energy from what is going so well for me. Aha! Now I have fuel to get going, excitement about where my question will lead...  

Get Fired Up:

Find your fuel that underlies what is going well and let it kickstart what seems to be lagging.
Ask yourself "how can I tap into whatever forward moving energy I have and direct it toward a project or endeavor I've left idle?"