“Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer”.
A friend sent me this quote and I believe it is how I live, work and encourage my clients, friends and cat.
Since, like most people, I have experienced both suffering and bold things , I enjoy developing strength to improve the latter.
In my work as a coach, I listen and learn. Offer tools and techniques to overcome stress and challenges. Turn ideas on their head and reflect them back with a different perspective. Sometimes I share my own stories to help others feel more hopeful, less squashed flat. My risky course of action in life sometimes ends in collision (recently relating to bicycles) occasionally in prizes (often garden-fete-raffle-prize tins of biscuits).
When it is somewhere in between I vow to do better next time – or eat my hat.
Every single action is my own decision, I am old enough and bold enough to calculate risks and take responsibility for the outcome. No-one is likely to save me and I do not expect them to.
If we all act decisively, with as much prudence as feels comfortable, there is no need to blame ourselves or others for things we/they might have failed to do. What does failure even mean? Some see it as standing still. Is that always a bad thing?
This month, I have the joy of being asked to work with refugees again. Young people who have arrived in the UK without cultural references or signposts. Without family or friends. They have nothing but the clothes on their back. Together we talk and walk and write stories of where they have come from and where they want to go. Who they want to be. We stitch together their patchwork of dreams and hang it on the wall – next to the Christmas tree – in their foster home. Angel wings hang on the tree.
It is a time of alchemy. Making bold choices and developing the strength to turn dust into dreams.
Send me a message if you would like me to hear your story and help you strengthen your boldness. Or to discuss Machiavelli.