On February the 11th, I experienced a miracle in the making, the birth of my grandson, Hoyt. As I watched,  my Goddess daughter, Rachel, moved gracefully through the dynamic morass of excruciating pain, humbling joy and exquisite tenderness. I could barely grasp her seeming willingness to let the process take her on the first ever totally out of control ride of her life. And at the point, right before Hoyt arrived, she looked up at all of us present and stated "I can't do it, I can't do it!" The midwife and her assistants sent up a cheer and as Jason (her husband) and I looked quizzically at them, it was proclaimed that the "giving up" right before the birth is a universal happening...women all over the world are known to say that very thing soon before the new creation is delivered. Of course I remember that very moment when I was in the final stage of labor with her, but didn't realize it was a universal "truth" about that point in the process.

In the afterglow his birth and a week tending to the new family in my family, I started ruminating on this universal truth of the ultimate creation. Of course, I'm "in the business" of facilitating creations and I began recalling how many people, including myself, had come to the point of "I can't do it" at some, usually the final stage, of the creation process. A client recently asked me "why is that?" The best answer I can give is that something has to die when something new is born. In the case of giving birth to a new baby, a new behavior, a new way of thinking, a new relationship...a part of our "old" self dies. And the new takes the vacated spot.
Just wondering, on this day, how many have experienced the "I can't do it" before the breakthrough...love to hear about it.
As always, thanks for listening (and commenting, I hope)
Love, Linda

Sustainable Change: Profile in courage

Last week, in my Coaching work, I was emphatically reminded of the courage sustainable change requires. During a group exercise, a well of not so hidden anger was tapped and the energy shifted dramatically. Coming from my background, it's a sign of positive movement when people allow themselves to just say what's really going on inside them, even if that is "negative". I don't know how we can change something we don't know exists. But when the cards are laid out on the table more openly, it presents quite a challenge for anyone who believes themselves to be at all responsible for the "negative."

Almost 50 years ago, in one of his infamous life lesson speeches, Jack Kennedy spoke about the Chinese symbol for crisis. He pointed out that the symbol was comprised of two characters; one representing danger and the other, opportunity. His point? What looks like crisis, upset and a way things are changing that we don't want them too, is also an unprecedented opportunity for us to change. Change what? The only thing we have control over changing, ourselves. Our attitudes, our perceptions, our point of view, our "eyes". And that, my friends, is a profile in courage.

So today, I salute any of you in the midst of that "crisis" and want to remind you that there are unimaginable gifts on the other side. Face one moment at a time and keep those you trust close.

Namaste, Linda