Some years ago I was in a dark place. There seemed to be no light on the horizon or anything to comfort me. I’m usually a glass half full sort of person but this had been going on for over 2 years and I was out of optimism. Then, one day when staying in Bath, the son-in-law of my friend felt compelled to say to me “Shelagh, Spring always follows Winter - always”. That felt like a little flicker of light which was amplified some weeks later when I saw the first snowdrops in my garden. Spring! I thought - but no, they are a winter flowering bulb; yet they pronounce that Spring is on its way. And some months later my season in life changed and I welcomed Spring back.
Life is tough sometimes; and those barren or mountainous times seem endless. But unless we are very young, we will have some history to remind us that they eventually end. What else can we notice in nature to teach us this? I was sitting quietly with someone who was going through such a tough time a few months ago; a picture came into my mind of a tree in winter. Stark against a winter sky yet, on examination of the twigs, you will see the dormant buds that, in the warmer temperature of Spring, will start to swell and eventual burst forth into new life. The promise is there in those dormant buds throughout winter but we rarely notice them because, as we rush past, we just see a leafless tree.
In coaching, the first thing I often do is to talk to my client about increasing their sensitivity to notice things. It might be what energises them or what saps their joy of life. What do they love doing? We live in such a hurry, packing things into our waking hours, and this can anaesthetise us so that we fail to notice the signposts that direct us towards what will be physically, emotionally and mentally healthy. Spending an hour in coaching on a regular basis for a period of time creates space to consider these things. To be heard by the coach and to hear your own voice. There have been many times when I’ve enjoyed hearing people tell me what they want, only to find that it had become an out-dated wish. Then it is time to explore what life is inviting them into in the present. The joy of coaching is that people climb outside of their box and see new possibilities and can then decide their direction of travel.