Have I been alive today / in the last few days?
Yes!
I particularly enjoyed the mild autumn air and the trees with their colourful leaves. Simply wonderful.
What new things have I discovered about life?
I’m still reeling from the shock: in less than three weeks, muscle tissue can turn into fat tissue. I did, after all, come down with lumbago three weeks ago, which is why I haven’t been as mobile as usual over the last few weeks. It particularly affected my lower back and buttocks. As it wasn’t getting any better and I’ve been waking up every night in pain (how on earth do parents with young children cope?), the doctor arranged an MRI scan as a precaution. All clear. No damaged discs. Thank goodness! But the MRI scan nevertheless revealed something terrible. In less than three weeks, my body has classified a whole lot of tense muscle tissue as „inactive“ – and therefore worthless – broken down those muscles (which appear dark on the MRI) and replaced them with (bright) fat cells, which require less energy. In just three weeks! I find that absolutely staggering!
What new things have I discovered about myself
I can share in other people’s happiness – especially when I’ve played a part in it in some way. Yesterday I received an email from a woman I’d first got to know through seminars and coaching and whom I’d now describe as a friend. She wrote to me to say that she’d made a friend and got engaged. That sort of thing does happen from time to time. This morning I remembered a coaching session from a few years ago. It was about her future. She’d had to give up her absolute dream job because the employer couldn’t extend the – fixed-term – contract any further.
We started by talking about her dreams, her desire to make a difference to young people, and then later about what opportunities were available right now. Finally, she came clean: „I’ve already got a job. As a manager in a supported housing scheme for older people. I think it’s the right thing to do; I can gain management experience there, and the people there really want me.“ She went on to list all the advantages of the new job for me. I grew increasingly uneasy. It seemed as though she was trying to convince both herself and me that this was the right thing to do.
At some point, I plucked up the courage and gave her some frank feedback: „Listen, your eyes are saying something completely different to what you’re saying. You say that this is the right thing to do, but I don’t see any enthusiasm.“
My feedback led her to admit that she hadn’t actually wanted that at all; she’d just talked herself into it. She turned down the job and took the plunge into self-employment – offering the services for young people that had always been her dream. It wasn’t easy, but she managed it. Eventually, she moved to a place where she found the right premises for her business… and – a coaching happy ending to the power of three – she even found the man of her dreams.
That’s a wonderful coaching story, of course. It’s not always quite that dramatic, but I often find that I can help people discover what they actually want – not what they think they ought to want. And when they dare to follow their dreams, I’m absolutely beaming with joy too.
And you – were you full of life today?
