Coaches Reinvent

Today, in the middle of a coaching call, the telephone line started screeching with an impressive level of electronic noise. The client and I moved to a different line and continued our coaching.

Now that I have notified the phone company, and they tell me they’re on it, I’m left to reflect on the static in my own life. I love the mirror that life is!

I realized that I started today with a few scheduled coaching calls and when I finished my calls for the day, I jumped right into ‘making it happen’ mode. For a while it flowed and I was really into it.

Then, for no noticeable-to-me reason, it suddenly felt difficult, so I ‘buckled down’ and started to try harder to get things done, confident that more effort was what was required.

This is my particular version of static in the line. It gets harder, and I try harder.

Sounds ludicrous when I see it in print, but it’s what many of us are conditioned to do.

When I have my wits about me and notice what’s happening, I just stop. This is, by the way, very hard for me to do. But I have practiced it long enough that I know the wisdom and practicality in it. I learned it years ago when I would get stuck while writing for a deadline. Stopping was the most counter-intuitive for me, and the most powerful.

Then I meditate or just sit and breathe for 10 minutes, allowing the ’static to clear from my line’ as I come into alignment with my inner being. Sometimes I do feel like I have moved to a different line, by virtue of my different focus. Regardless, I then have access to a deeper, truer wisdom and more peace. A feeling that all really is well.

When I can remember to do that practice, I can clearly see the next step and my work becomes allowing myself to move into it with ease. No pushing or trying or forcing.

I’m famously frustrated with phone problems; the phone is my connect to my livelihood, so it has been one of those things that’s easy for me to let myself get all in a dither about. But it’s not a good reason. Really, nothing is.

I may not be able to choose the outer circumstance in my life, but I can choose my response to it, and therein lies my freedom.

Keeping our balance and alignment with our inner beings is a practice, not a destination. It’s my top priority, because I want to live my life in that feeling of flow.

It is like a meditation. We are moving through the activities of our lives with ease and flow, and something happens that introduces static in our lines.

At that point we have a choice. Pay attention to the static, try to overcome it, and get frustrated. Or we can do whatever works best for us to come back into alignment with who we know we really are. The static may not go away, but that’s not the point. We choose to direct our focus to something that brings us back to inner clarity and insight.

I’m not saying that is is always easy to clear our minds and choose a focus that gets us back into the flow. But I am saying that it is possible and worth it. I know this because I have countless examples of my own and with my clients.

And this time, it was good for me to stop, pay attention, and redirect my focus. I feel better: freer, clearer, and back in the flow.