A great quote

"What is common to the greatest number gets the least amount of care. Men pay most attention to what is their own; they care less for what is common; or at any rate they care for it only to the extent to which each is individually concerned. Even when there is no other cause for inattention, men are more prone to neglect their duty when they think that another is attending to it."  Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) 

This quote reminds me that we are ALL here to take care of the Earth so the people who live here can ALL have clean air, clean water, clean soil.  There is nobody coming to do this for us.  It is up to all of us now to do what we can to help. Some of my coaching clients are doing incredible work in this space and I can support them to even greater heights.  I am reminded constantly that coaching is about going from good to really good; from thinking alone about issues and problems, to having a partner to brainstorm and be creative with; from experiencing life from only one perspective to seeing life from a multitude of perspectives... and it's so fun to do this work together!

Finding Space Between the Words

The theme in my life these days seems to be around slowing down.  My daughter tells me daily to slow down so she can understand what I'm saying, and my husband tells me to slow down when I knock over another glass on the counter with my flailing arms. The books I'm reading and the audios I'm listening to all have the same theme... SLOW DOWN! This, by the way, is not a new message because Megan's 17 and has been saying it since she could talk, but I'm paying attention now.

Honestly it's a foreign concept to me and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.  I'm a busy bee ... I wake up with ideas of things to do all day and so excited for the day ahead, and by the end of the day, I'm excited again for going to bed and seeing what appears in my day tomorrow. I'm not as busy as I have been in the past so I keep asking myself, why slow down ?  

As I sat down to write this blog post, I realize that Quantum Physics is all about the space... I've been fascinated by the concept of the space between the words as a metaphor for that space concept.  We read sentences fluidly and understand what the sentence means because each word is separated by space.  The sentences have capital letters to begin the thought and a period at the end but the critical part of the sentence is the space. The spaces add clarity to thought and  whatifwritingallhappenedwithoutspaces?  It's not relaxing or thought provoking... it feels strained, uncreative and like I'm trying too hard.

I guess that's what slowing down can do for me too. I can listen more deeply to each word and experience each interaction fully before moving on.  I know that's where creativity happens, when I don't know what's next, and I can be surprised in the not knowing. The JOY happens in the slowing down and seeing the space all around me to think differently than I expected. 

How I begin a coaching session

LIFE Coaching is not like therapy but comes from the coaching world, like working with an acting coach or a tennis coach... we talk about what's going on in your life today and where you want to "improve"... Really we talk about how you want to live your life differently, with less stress, more happiness, more time on things you really value.  While we create those goals that we talk about at the start of our work together, each time we meet or talk over the phone, I begin with the same question... "What can you and I work on today that will most help you in your life."

Crazy Good by Steve Chandler

Steve has written many, many wonderful books and each one has inspired me to think differently. The one I read yesterday is Crazy Good. I love the idea of crazy good because we're all kinda scared of living a CRAZY GOOD life but the truth is I do live a crazy good life, every day... even on the "challenging" days, I choose to live it fully and find myself thinking about the opportunities I might see in the challenge.

One of so many favorite Quotes

 “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,

 and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

 Happiness is never decreased by being shared.”

~ Buddha

A favorite podcast

Malcolm Gladwell is so fun to read and now he has a new podcast that I highly recommend.  www.revisionisthistory.com   It's a series of 10 spectacular podcasts ranging from education to car racing and brakes.  Definitely a highlight of the summer for me.

The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer

I'm constantly reading and try to sample of bit of personal stories and inspiration at the same time if I can.  Michael Singer's The Surrender Experiment is just that.  It's the personal story of a brilliant man who changed the path of his life when he decided to follow his curiosity.  From his meditation practice to growing a huge company, it was fun to hear how he was able to let things happen without a story he would attach to it.  Fast and insightful, a window into the beginning of meditation and quieting the inner voice.