Soulful Coach

The Invitation

At one of my Leadership retreats right before we began our climb up 40 ft in the redwoods, a wonderful person recited this poem for us.  I hope you enjoy it as I did:

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

oriah mountain dreamer

Coaching Inquiry:  Who are you deep down?  What sustains you?  What do you bring to the world - this world that needs your talents and gifts?  Will you stand in the fire with me? I am here to aid you in your journey.

Namaste,
Sheila

The Web of Intimacy

Hi All!

I was waiting for my friend, Harriet, for lunch. She was running a bit late as usual and I was happy for the few minutes to anticipate being with her again. I just couldn't wait to just be sitting with her. She knows me so well and often throughout my Leadership retreats, I thought of her and wished she was with me there. She would have loved much about it.

Reflecting on the second retreat of Leadership that was about creating from other, I began thinking about "intimacy" because if I know anything, I know I share this with Hari. So, I'm looking through Yoga + magazine and I come across this short article. I was moved so...and I want to share it with all of you.

"The Web of Intimacy

Sometimes, when we are sensitive enough, something in nature momentarily reaches out to us, touches us, and reveals how deeply we are in relationship. My friend and colleague Catherine told me about an experience she had while meditating on the foothills of the French Pyrenees: 'While doing a standing meditation with my eyes closed in the forest, I noticed a tickle on my face. It traveled repeatedly from my mouth to my right eye and back again over a period of about ten minutes. Practicing non-reactivity, I breathed patiently, sensing many light legs busy walking back and forth. After some time, a new strange sensation appeared on my mouth, like it was being covered. Curiosity got the better of me and I opened my eyes. A small spider had woven a delicate web over my mouth and secured its gossamer thread on an eyelash. I felt an exquisite intimacy with this being. I felt touched at being considered a part of nature, suitable to make a home on. And yet at the same time, I knew I would shatter its home and our intimacy when I opened my mouth. What intimacy, delicacy, and destruction. The touch of grace as delicate as a spider's thread.'"
---Mark Coleman
Excerpted from Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path to Self Discovery

Wow!

Love,
S

Wheel of Life Exercise - Professional - Free Assessment Tool!

Now that you've done the personal wheel of life, try this one for your professional life!

Professional

Wheel of Life Exercise - Try it! Free Assessment Tool!

Try this great tool!  Just click on the link below marked "personal"  Also, the next post allows you do also do this for your professional life. Then email me with your results and we can talk about it!  Personal