Keep being you

I sometimes feel this almost scratching feeling in my brain like I haven’t accomplished enough. That I need to be doing more with my life. Somebody please define “more” for me! In talking with friends and clients I know I’m not alone.

Yet, I think about my grandparents and how from the outside their lives looked kind of small. Both only graduated from high school, they worked hard their whole lives in blue collar jobs, they raised their kids and then enjoyed their grandkids (at least I hope they did) and from that view it doesn’t seem like they left much of a legacy.

Except they did. Their lives touched so many people, including my own. Poppy taught me, not just how to fix things, but the importance of make do and mend, his quiet patience gave me a safe space, and his joy to hit the open road with a camper and go on adventures all around the United States gave me a glimpse of America that most people never get. My grandmother taught me how to set a table, how to bake, how to cook and how to be a good hostess, she gave me a love of gardening, and she also taught me how to sew and crochet.

They seem like small things but they inform, not just how I live my life, but who I am as a person. I had a dinner party recently for ten people. Being able to cook and host are skills, but at their core it’s about building community. Bringing people together who know me but not each other, making connections and sharing a meal is such a beautiful thing. People are writing books about it and yet it is something almost second nature to me.

I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in over a decade a few years ago. I met her husband and her daughters. She was so excited to tell me that she sewed her daughters clothes and that it was all thanks to me. I was surprised but she said I always told her to just do it and if you mess up, well, that’s what a seam ripper is for.

I think about friends who have carried me through difficult times, about bosses who taught me how to be a better leader, of teachers who imparted the knowledge I needed in that moment. I think of the whole host of people who have come into my life, some for just a fleeting moment, and some for over thirty years. They all have had an impact on me. Even my life coaching clients teach me something new every day. Sometimes it is the mirror they reflect back to show me the work I need to do, sometimes it is awe at their resilience and sometimes it is a tidbit of knowledge that helps me in my work.

You may be thinking you haven’t done enough yet with this wild wondrous life, but I’d argue you’ve done so much, but it can be hard to see. You’ve had more of an impact on the people and the world around you then you can ever imagine.

Your homework

Your homework for this week is to reach out and tell someone how they affected you. It can be something small and I bet, in that smallness, you will surprise that person because they probably thought it was nothing. But for you, it meant the world.

Life Coaching

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