Discovering life: Perceiving levels
Was I alive today?
Yes!
Especially on a short walk in the rain.
What new things have I discovered about life?
It helps to sort the layers! A while ago, a friend sent me a jigsaw postcard from her holiday. She knows I love jigsaws – actually, that was the only thing that really annoyed me. It was covered in shells. There was so much detail that you couldn’t make out the overall picture for all the shells. Everything was photographed at the same distance, with no variation in size or perspective. Putting it together really took some effort.
When I tried it again the other day, I thought: lots of people experience life in exactly the same way: a jumble of puzzle pieces that they can hardly fit together to form a complete picture, because they’re so overwhelmed by the details that they can no longer see the bigger picture – just a confusing jumble of details.
Coaching often involves helping people to make sense of things. It’s about identifying different levels and perspectives. First, you establish a framework… and then, step by step – sometimes through painstaking, meticulous work – you discover what fits together. 
It helps to start by getting things sorted out. That’s what I did today during a coaching session with someone who was looking for clarity in their life. We sorted out the different areas of life and then the various levels within each of those. And in the end, we found an overall picture that felt right, even if a few pieces were still missing for deeper happiness in life. But you can go and look for those and then add them in later
What new things have I discovered about myself?
I can take just as much pleasure in the little things as in the big ones. Late this morning, I suddenly felt a strong urge to take the rubbish down. That’s not like me at all ;-). When I got to the top, I spotted a sheet of insulation foil right at the top of the yellow-dot bin, which would be perfect for sealing the makeshift doors through which a lot of cold air is still getting in. I took it and was as happy as a child. All the more so when, shortly afterwards, I saw the rubbish collection van arriving. A minute later and it would have been too late.
I was thinking of the Bible verse, „He knows his own…“ – God knows his own and knows how to bring joy to them – in this case, to me… what a wonderful gift!
Later on, I received a generous donation, which I also used to buy insulation so that guests will be nice and cosy in future…
I was just as delighted with the „little gift“ as I was with the big one… both are signs that I’m noticed and supported – how wonderful!
