BURNING CAN BE HEALTHY

While the heat outside my office is a sizzling 90 degrees, I am thinking of those bathing beauties "baking" on the beaches. Frying one by one. Strangely, it makes me think of the coaching process. At the beginning, the recipe for the goals are written out. Each precisely measured for moving forward with a tablespoon of accountability. Each week the baking process ensues with slow temperatures, careful as not to burn the meal. Just as a cook may burn his/her first new dish, a client might do the same. However, it is for not, because there is a learning moment that takes place. It is as rich as the calories in the meal. While the sun gods and goddesses may apply aloe to the skin for relief, clients reveal more of a positive "afterglow".
So I ask you, " WHAT IS IT TO BAKE..........
....... AND HOW WILL YOU DO IT?"
"warmly"
Sallie

THE CLIMB

What does it feel like to have completed, what you thought was, an overwhelming job/project? Were you elated, relieved, or exhausted? Or were you all three?
I just finished helping, when I could, my daughter and her boyfriend renovate our ski house. It had been a project that began in May commencing with the demolition of the first bathroom. From there dust, wood shavings, tools, furniture, paint cans, brushes, tarps multiplied daily for the next two and a half months. We were beyond the word "clutter", and I clearly understood from a cellular level how that impacted my mental and physical state. (I will talk more about that in the next blog.) But what I learned from that experience was that I accomplished and faced my worst fears all at the same time. While Matt and Sarah had their full time jobs, I worked there alone and could not depend on anyone to help me figure out how an unfamiliar drill or saw functioned. Fortunately I had seen them in motion more than once, and relied on my visual memory. I was elated to have found myself to be even more resourceful. I was stretched to learn new things. Some of you know that I have a real fear of ladders. A childhood fearful experience. Going past three rungs is far enough for me. Now how was I to remove the stains from the high beams, paint the trim, and secure the painter's tape? I HAD TO DO IT! If I wanted this task to be done, I had to do it. There was no one else, and I was not going to ask anyone else to take this on. Time for me to stand tall; I TOOK A DEEP BREATH, TOLD MYSELF I COULD DO IT AND CLIMBED. I could feel my legs tightening, the muscles wobbly. I was scared and told myself I was going to be fine, just breathe. Easy to say, but it became my mantra...and I was fine. The more I practiced going up and down, the more comfortable I became. Yes, I DID IT. We all can be paralyzed by fear of not doing something, but breaking out of it reveals self confidence that goes beyond words. I might not scale Mt. Everest or put an extension ladder to the third floor of a house, but I know that I can climb higher than I ever did before and feel the accomplishment.
So I ask you, what can YOU climb to break free from a fear?
email me, share your stories...sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com
Sallie