Courage Archives - Page 3 of 4 - The Paradigm Shifts

The Anguish and Agony of Unrelenting Resistance

I have a client, Max, who in this moment finds himself in a life that is unmanageable. Regardless of where he is – at work, at home, in his truck driving between home and work – he is facing what feels like cataclysmic consequences. It is like he is attempting to walk through a field of land mines: whatever step he takes, regardless of the direction, it will inevitably result in a Ka-Boom! . . . . It is the end of pre-season for football. The athletes who have put their careers on the line to be chosen as one

Artist’s Block

Artists are courageous beings. They begin with a blank slate – a sheet of music, an empty canvas, a block of marble, a slab of clay, an empty stage. There is nothing but the desire to follow the impulse to express itself to itself. Humans, each and every one of us, are after all courageous beings – we are always and everywhere artists. We approach each day as if we know what will be created and experienced. The truth is we never know. We live into a pretending, and even in that we are creating a work of art. This

Aging – What’s the Point?

When I think about the millions of people who are in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, I wonder what brings fulfillment to their lives. As they disengage from the external world, by choice or by circumstance, most will question reality, much like Scarlett, Martin and Thomas do. “When I was young,” started Scarlett, who is a beautiful, vivacious 80 year old, “everything mattered: What I looked like, what I wore, who I dated, where I lived, how many children I had, where they went to school. Everything mattered! I enjoyed waking up with a sense of purpose. Now I

Victims of Life’s Circumstances – Or Not!

Francis, a beautiful, creative woman and long time Island resident, came to my work place the other day. “I’ve been reading your articles on aging and dying in Orcas Issues, and you know,” she said with a wee bit of disdain in her voice, “aging isn’t all fun and light – sometimes there’s anger and hate. I’ve been dealing with hearing loss for a long time. My memory is deteriorating and I’m afraid that I’m losing my mind. I’m living with a lot of pain. I’m alone more often than not, and I’m angry about all of this. Sometimes I

Aging and Change

“Your Life is a Testimony to Change.” Rasha The more years I have under my belt the more I realize the degree to which life is more about change than it is about no-change. That change occurs in the realms of physical, mental, and emotional development; social and political structures; career and finances; relationships with family and community; and last but not least, relationships with ourselves and our spirituality. How could one possibly interpret life as stable with all of the shifts that occur in so many aspects of one’s reality?! In the past, I believed if I earned enough

If I Weren’t Me

A favorite part of my job as a Life Coach is that I get to witness human beings take tiny filaments of beliefs and turn them into huge knots of limitations. They, like most of us, aren’t able to hear themselves speak, nor see how their thoughts create the world around them. As their thinking partner, I hear what they themselves can’t hear, and I share with them what I’m hearing so they can make sense of the tangled knots of beliefs that lie within. After which they are at choice to choose differently. The other most favorite part of

The Aging Dreamer – The Ageless Dreamer

“There are literally no limits to what you may now choose to experience within the context of this physical form…. One must now take total responsibility for the focused intent that underlies one’s choices.” Oneness, p.299 As I read these words of Oneness, I ask myself the questions: “What do people who are aging dream and imagine? What do I dream and imagine? Or, have I given up believing in dreams; that I’m too old to have my dreams come true?” Dreaming and imagining are essential components of our human psyche. At every age, through stories, music, imagination and play,

Coming of Age “ Regardless of Age

One theme of Aging- Who Me? is that we are never not aging. We are never not developing, growing, unfolding, evolving. We are in fact in a constant state of emerging. As humans we are bombarded with choices, constantly. Some are big choices, some, not so big. For example, choosing the right college; choosing marriage or parenthood; choosing the “right career; choosing how to be with a partner or family member who’s harmful and abusive; choosing how to be with an incurable disease, choosing to come out of the closet in regard to their sexuality, their spirituality, or politics; choosing

Nobody Does it Like Mother Nature

I’ve heard it said that death is the great equalizer. As true as this statement is, I see that aging too is the great equalizer. Stuff happens as we age, and no matter how much power, money, beauty, or sex-appeal you have, you can’t say no to what Mother Nature has to offer. One of the intentions of these articles, “Aging – Who Me?”is to cultivate not only awareness but also our innate intelligence in a way that sparks a curiosity about what it is like within these human packages. Another intention is to see that, regardless of your chronological

It is Just Another Leg of the Journey

A young individual new to the world may come to perceive that there is only one long leg on the journey of life. As one proceeds, they will most likely come upon unexpected and unruly twists, turns, and roundabouts, which in the moment seem impossible to navigate. We just get comfortable with the trajectory we are on, when badda-bing-badda-boom, we find ourselves headed somewhere else. A very good friend of mine, Craig, is turning 50 in a month’s time. He is in shock and awe. He says he wasn’t supposed to live past 18, and quite frankly tried to off

Tag: Courage