Some days feel much heavier than others. The air, the light, the sound of another voice, the news, the weather, the look on someone’s face all seem to conspire to add weight to the flow of the day. And what always amazes me is how quickly it begins to feel as if that heaviness will never lift again.
When I find myself in that place, the surest way to lift me up and out is to offer my help to another person. It could be calling the friend I’ve been meaning to check in on or making a donation to a cause I support. It could be looking every person I meet directly in the eyes as I speak to them, letting them know that they matter to me. Each action I take on behalf of another lightens the load I imagine myself carrying so that I can stand a bit straighter, smile a bit wider.
As a coach, I challenge my clients to try out actions that add meaning and value to their lives. We honor the complex of emotions they carry, taking the time to get to know them in rich detail. And then we get ready to move forward, to test out what it would be like to respond differently to a familiar situation, and to notice what happens when you do. As a client, I know how profound it can be to feel yourself slipping into a well-worn rut and instead of falling in head first, to realize that just to the left of that rut sits a whole new set of footholds just waiting to be discovered.
Some days require a full stop to get a handle on whatever presses down on me. Some days require constant motion just to keep up. All days carry within them the potential for both - the pause to learn AND the action to move forward. These days being a client is my pause and coaching is the action that lightens my days. What pause… and then action will you choose to live out today?