Adding Value and Giving Thanks
November 24, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Life Coaching, celebrations, personal growth, relationships, retreat
(This is a re-post from another blog I had. I share it with you today as I scurry off to the mountains and cold of Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with dear friends. May you have a marvelously abundant and joyful Thanksgiving holiday! Thanks for being a reader. )
Lately I have been pondering, and sitting with, the question of “How can I add value to your life?”. Your being the collective your; all those around me, all those I touch, have contact with, and intersect with in various ways.
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, a time when we naturally take stock of all the things we have to be joyfully grateful for, it’s a bit of an interesting twist. As I list my mountains of abundance that I am so thankful for, I also get to consider all the ways that I might be able to positively impact another’s life.
How can I add value to your life? Depending on who I ask will certainly influence the answer. Actually, it is not even imperative that I really ask the other person, it is a question I can ask of myself about another person. “How can I add value to so&so’s life?”.
It occurs to me, that unless those I am asking really know who I am, they may not be aware of how I may add value to their life. If, for instance, the person I asked did not know that I am a Life Coach, they wouldn’t know that I might support them in gaining clarity or in creating balance in their lives. If they know I am a Life Coach, they may not understand that my focus is on Whole Health and Wellness, especially within relationships, and that my passion is in helping others to gain a sense of complete healthiness in all aspects of their life. If they are needing respite and renewal, and didn’t know I facilitate custom designed retreats for individuals and groups, they wouldn’t know I could help them step out of their usual lives and into a safe place of stillness where their authentic voice could really be heard. Likewise, if one was unaware of my community building experience, or organizational skills, networking prowess, or love for collaborative ventures, how would they know to ask?
As we consider the possibility of adding value to lives of others, in ways that they will be thankful for, while we count our own blessings, it seems important that we let others know who we are!!
But first, we must ask ourselves…how do I value myself? In what ways can I add value to my own life? What aspects of myself do I believe adds value to the lives of others? Believing in ourselves and trusting that we have something of value to contribute to the world at large, and knowing what that is, is as important as wanting to make a positive impact.
Sometimes we are not always able to connect to our intrinsic value and positive contribution to the world. Hopefully, this is when our friends and loved ones take notice, and ask us how they can add value to our lives! And then, we get to count our blessings and have give thanks and the circle continues.
Today, I am grateful for many, many things, and I ask: how can I add value to your life?
Core Fundamentals for Living Bliss
October 13, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Life Coaching, Self Development, Whole Health, emotional energy, personal growth
I recently became inspired to consider what core fundamentals were operating in my life these days, and if they were appropriate for these times we currently find ourselves living in. I discovered that I needed to adjust my thinking in some areas to accommodate for the changes and to make way for continued success in my life and business. I realized that I had indeed been sucked into the fear of “things to come” and that this completely took me out of the present moment, and my ability to enjoy each moment for the wondrous gifts they are.
While there are a lot of things out there to be concerned about, and it is important to stay informed, we do not need to let any of it determine how we show up each day, nor do we need to let any of it ruin our individual bliss. We can lose material possessions, jobs and bank rolls, even relationships, but we don’t have to lose our spirit, our passion, our compassion, our connections with others or our spiritual path.
Knowing the core fundamentals that keep us inspired, hopeful, on track and present to each moment are touchstones to which we can return.
Take a moment to jot down 3-4 items, small catch phrases or affirmations, that provide a foundation for you. You may find, as I did, that you will re-access certain ideas or ways of being so that you can navigate more easily-this is the idea! Allow for these fundamental elements to flow forth from your authentic center-there are no should’s or have to’s here, only a desire to be more connected to the essence of your “Living Bliss”, whatever that is for you.
Here are my 4 core fundamentals that I am currently working with:
* Live with passion and joy
* Trust the process
* Be authentic
* Put yourself out there
What are some of your core fundamentals that can keep you happy and a float these days? I would love to hear what’s working for you.
The Roller Coaster of Love
July 30, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Health & Wellness, Life Coaching, divorce, emotional energy, personal growth, relationships
The human heart is such a complex thing. It takes us on a wild roller coaster ride that even the most die hard amusement park ride lovers have trouble coping with. Navigating the wild twists and turns, and stomach curling ups and downs, of love can make the best of us green, yet we jump on willingly, even when we know what the ride will be like.
Why do we choose to get on these rides? As a young girl I actually hated the roller coaster. I went on it once and that was enough for me. Give me the gentle ferris wheel any day. When it comes to love, however, I seem to be willing to jump on time and time again, forgetting what it felt like the last time when it all went seriously wrong.
I’m still moving through this thing called divorce. The guy that used to be my partner, my lover, my companion is in the process of packing up all his stuff and “getting the hell outta here’, as he so emphatically stated once. He arrived back home from CA, and from the arms of other womyn, last week. Each day I watch as the places where he used to be, become empty. His half of the closet. The garage (well, at least I can walk through it now!). His office. My heart.
When your heart is aching and bleeding all over the floor, how do you see the gifts of the amazing moment you are in? How do you climb in for the ride and arrive at the end hottin’ and hollerin’, climbing out of that little roller coaster car with a smile on your face and a sense of some sort of accomplishment that you survived?
It’s not easy. But survive we do, and eventually we even get back on again for the ride. What I have discovered in this delirious journey is that as my heart expands and contracts, grieves and mourns, rages and releases, I am being birthed into a new self. What better gift could I ask for? She is resilient and strong, empowered and powerful, broken open and freed. The fog has lifted and the clarity is informing and revealing. Suddenly, my stride has become more purposeful and my vision more clear. I detach from that which has not served me, fed my soul, or honored the magnificence of my feminine self. I feel my feelings with a fierce sense of devotion to the ride and a willingness to see myself through it all.
Currently, I am coaching a couple and am leading a group of womyn in a 6 week adventure of healing our relationships with, and beliefs about, men. Realizing that my personal experience provides a rich foundation for the work I do, and allows me to become a masterful coach in the game of relationships, helps me to enjoy the roller coaster just a little bit more. If my journey can make someone else’s easier, then it’s all worth it.
Even so, I’m thinking it’s going to be along time before I decide to ride this roller coaster again!
Perfection Is Not Sustainable
May 7, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Life Coaching, Self Development, Whole Health, emotional energy, relationships, sustainability
True sustainability causes things to bloom!
Today I am launching my blogsite: Bliss101-Encouraging the Design of Sustainable Relationships, Lives and Environments.
This is a big deal. I have been in this process for a couple months now, waiting for it all to be perfect before I let the world in to see. Each day or so I tweak it, change this or that, get frustrated by technology, or ignore it all together. The process has neither been satisfying or very energy producing. I have held onto the idea that that it needs to look a certain way, say all the right things, project the perfect image, appeal to the right market, and with each passing day I found myself with less juice for actually launching the whole thing.
How funny that a blog focusing on sustainability of relationships, lives and environments would be depleting my energy versus producing bundles of positive energy on many fronts! Something needed to change. But, I was stuck and uncertain. (Yup, even Life Coaches need a good swift kick in the butt once in awhile to get off the bench and back in their game.) Mine came in the form of an innocent conversation with a friend where I realized that striving for perfection was about the most unsustainable thing I could be doing.
In the natural world, there is little perfection. (Or, as I like to say there is so much wonderful perfection in all the imperfection.) Right now sitting at my desk, I look out my window on a half dead pine tree that stands just over the fence in our neighbors yard. It’s craggy, tipping over and has only a few green boughs on it. Most people would cut it down, sighting dangers and aesthetics as reasons. Personally, I think it is just perfect! It provides a wonderful resting place for birds, some character to the landscape, and a reminder that beauty and form and aliveness and life has no rules, really.
So, who am I to judge the perfection of anything in it’s current form? While my blogsite is not perfect in my eyes with regards to how it looks, or even what I think it says, there may be something here that is exactly the most perfect thing for someone who visits.
So, welcome all to Bliss101! I hope you will stick around and join me on the journey of designing sustainable relationships, lives and environments in our lives. Not perfect ones, just sustainable ones! My hope is that something here inspires you to live life on your own terms, to remove the blanket of shoulds holding you back, to get healthy and strong in all ways, and to find your special path to joy, fulfillment and Whole Health. Thanks for being here.
Also, big thanks to Kathleen Sullivan of the SavvyVA who got me going on this project ad helped out lot!!
