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Life coaching for the intellectual mind
Welcome to the December 2006 issue of Engaging Minds eZine - Issue 17
Contents: (you can click on the blue links to go straight to the section you most want to look at)
- Introduction
- Coaching ideas
- Time
- Lifelines
-
got you thinking
- A time addendum
- Featured Blog
Stress!
I used to think I knew how to perform under stress; client deadlines and university papers due in. I learnt what stress is this last few weeks and in light of that experience client deadlines figure way down the scale.
In a nutshell:
I lost an 'oh so special' friend to cancer;
I moved house;
I saw my son suffer anaphylaxis and had to rush him to hospital;
I briefly lost our dog and
I learnt my son is allergic to nuts.
There's more too but that's for a later discussion.
So this has been an opportunity to re-evaluate my life to date and re-frame some of those moments that caused me stress. Some of them had continued to stress me when i thought of them, I hadn't let them go for some reason even when I know I should have. I touch on this topic later in the eZine; for now all you need to know is that I let mine go.
Coaching Ideas considers our relationship to time.
Got you thinking - this one will blow your brains out!
Lifelines this month is from the author Douglas Adams (sadly deceased).
This man had a way with words.
Check out "A time addendum "
The last flight from Mars? is this months Blog entry;
Time
"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time." (Pink Floyd "Time" Dark side of the moon).
I think our relationship with time determines whether or not we believe the lyrics above.
I write a lot about living in the present; being present in order to absorb what is going on around you. I recognise too that it can be difficult to do that in the rather hectic world in which most of us live. Generally when we spend time looking to the future its is to forecast what will happen in order to make decisions now for the future. So we 'look forward'.
Yet so much of how we live is based on our minds looking to the past. we consciously and subconsciously make decisions based on our memories of the past. So maybe a good way to look ahead is to do so looking back.
Confused? I was until i read about it in a book called "Ten thoughts about time" by Bodil Jonsson. She talks about this idea, calls it backcasting and recommends we all try it. I was glad to find that someone had explored this idea as I had my doubts about it when it came to me.
So, have I tried it yet? No! I need about one more week to get a handle on one of those stressors I mentioned at the start then I am going to give it a go. I suggest you do, and here's how:
'project forward a period of years (try five but not too many more) and then look back at your life from there. What do the memories look like? What have you done" What have you experienced? Whose life have you changed for the better other than your own?'
I'll post my findings on the blog. I would love it if you would too.
Change needn't be scary- get yourself a coach.
Lifelines
Tell me this didn't make you smile!
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
(Douglas Adams)
Got you thinking
Here's a gun related one for all my 2nd Amendment subscribers:
Jane and Julie are forced by their captors to play a game of Russian Roulette. Jane gets a revolver with six chambers and puts two bullets into two adjacent chambers. She then spins the barrel, puts it against her head, and pulls the trigger.
The gun doesn't fire. She then passes the gun to Julie.
Julie can either put the gun against her head and pull the trigger, or she can spin the barrel first.
Which gives her a better chance for survival?
To find out the answer you will need to click here and visit the Blog
Have you noticed that when you are truly fond of something you care to a point of being responsible for its well being?
Can you feel this way about time? Can you separate out the time that seems to have little value for you from the time that you want to nurture and protect? Take a moment to examine the ratio of the one to the other. I often hear people say that the hour or hours from x to y are sacred and they can't be disturbed. So often though these periods are shorter than that person would like.
Try to relate to the feelings that the fondness brings and then imagine what it would feel like to have a greater amount of that in your life.
I know that some of you think that I am talking about time away from work, free time (how often do we really have that? Aren't we always trying to fill it?) yet I honestly believe the luckiest of us can find that fondness in our work time. I also believe we make our own luck through examining our life and being true to what we find.
This months featured Blog entry:
Colonising Mars
The last flight from Mars.
PAY ATTENTION! This isn't about the exploits of the Mars Rover, more about what would happen if humans colonised Mars. Would we inevitably screw it up as we are screwing up this planet.
Wars based on religious belief; polluting the environment and extreme poverty when there are also extreme excesses!
Can we learn from our mistakes?
Please leave your comments on the Blog; tell me and us what you think!
Click here to view the Blog.
Issue 18: Will be sent to subscribers on or about Friday January 5 2007.
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"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates
