A Time To Speak

For my regular blog readers, you know that I have spent the past few years overcoming extreme trauma due a life of harmful situations.  This journey has been emotionally tumultuous and had nearly 'done me in'.  

The extensive amount of Type A & Type B trauma I experienced was notable and life-defining.  Fortunately, I didn't go completely under nor was I taken out of function entirely.  Part of my survival was my personal faith (strength source), part of it was my personal coaches, mentors, and counselors.  I needed people to give me skills, cheer me on, and sometimes even come along side of me and help me to run my race as I hobbled on one foot.

Thankfully, my trauma has given me a profession with a repertoire that is now in demand in conferences, churches, home groups, and Executive and Life Coaching.  My personal story is releasing other professionals to live again.

Based on request, I have become a certified Executive Coach and Life Coach.  In addition, I am receiving requests to be a public speaker, motivational speaker, and international speaker.

WOW.  Talk about a change in momentum!  From the darkness into light.

PERSPECTIVE

I have learned that life is often about living amidst paradoxes.  For instance, there is: brokenness and healing; angst and peace; grief and joy; desire and fulfillment; loss and gain; death and life etc.  All of these things can occur at the same time within the same person.  We are very complex and dynamic beings.  Sometimes life is messy and dirty.  It takes a good Coach to navigate a path through the maze of compost, refuse, and disorder into a path of order, beauty, and rest.

It seems to me that life's difficulties are like compost: it is the 'crap that stinks'; but in the correct Gardener's hands, compost is the most effective ingredient to a beautiful garden.

For many, God is the Gardener of the Heart.  He tends to the thorns, thistles, and slivers.  From a mess, he creates something beautiful.  Our heart story is so key to making sense out of tragedy.  Seeing our story as a garden is just one of the many powerful visualizations that helps trauma survivors overcome the senseless pain of abuse, disappointment, or confusion.  

Coaching is the Gardener's gift to us.  Through skill building, Coaches create victory by working alongside of each person on their journey of success. A good coach reflects the ultimate Gardener--creating a beautiful scene out from the compost of failure, confusion, or disappointment.

How does my life's story connect with Coaching Services?

Good question!  I have chosen to live out my story publicly and professionally.  This means that I am applying my gains with skill and accuracy and leveraging that life experience as an Executive and Life Coach.

I am privileged to frequently participate in sessions wherein people are restored from Type A & Type B trauma.   Coaching provides solutions to people just as freely as the Red Cross provides medical assistance to those who need it.  I have the chance to 'pay it forward'; coaches have helped me and now I can Coach-it-forward.

Anyone can access and benefit from Coaching Services; faith is helpful but not necessary.  Coaching is an accessible tool for changing a dream into reality.

Get started on your own plan to success.  I am booking clients at a 10-15% discount from the industry standard.  In the meantime, I am also setting out on speaking engagements in Alberta, the US and the UK.

As a Certified Coach, it is my goal to speak publicly what is true (Life Events), what leads to solutions (Life Coaching), and to speak in such a way that my very words cause and create LIFE!

SOLUTIONS: ONE STEP AT A TIME

We could have been something...(a letter from the heart)

I sometimes write things that are a combination of personal experience, stories shared, and creative writing.  In this case, I am not inclined to share what or who inspired this ;)  That is my secret!

So simply kick back and enjoy this read...

Your Magnetism

For years, I watched you from a distance.  Your radiance made me smile.  I enjoyed watching you light up a room with your stories, your energy, and your passion for life.  You inspired me.

During those years, I watched you grow.  Your magnetism was contagious and people would spring to life just being around you. 

Even as you led many people to a greater life, I appreciated our quiet connection. Deep down, our hearts were writing a song together; like a secret that only we shared.  I smile even thinking about it...

I remember when we started dating.  You would take me out and we would laugh, share stories, and love one another as beings, as people, and as friends. It never seemed right to talk about who we were together because we were simply content being together, even if we sat in silence, staring at the sky.  

In you, I felt whole.  And in me, you felt safe.  We were life to each other.

I used to smile while others commented on how we had our own language and our own way together.  Your connection with me was something that simply ‘was’; we never really talked about it.  We just 'were'.

More Remembering...

I remember how you commanded a room.  Whenever you rose to speak, everyone breathed in a little as if they were waiting for gold to roll off your tongue.  And it often did! You carried wisdom, kindness, and respect.  I admired you all the more for it.

As you shone, I shone brighter.  We echoed love and respect for each other and for others.  We created an ambience of wholeness that was blended from our heart song.

You innately knew how to encourage and inspire every person you met.  When I watched you speak, I felt like I was watching a living legend in real time.  I had the luxury of seeing a GREAT person writing their life’s story, right in front of my eyes.  And what was even better, was that you were ‘my’ one and only.  I knew you; you knew me; and we were one.

With you it seemed like anything was possible.  Even if we were to jump off a cliff, with you and me together, it seemed like we could fly.

What Interrupted?

But then something hidden snuck in; something interrupted you.  I saw it arrive, like a small stone being thrown across our quiet and calm lake.  At first, the stone created a small ripple that seemed meaningless against the power of our shared water.  But that ripple continued and interrupted your peace.

It was as if something ill was spoken into your ear and caused your heart to became heavy.  Then slowly, that ripple distracted you.  The incumbrance was stealing your joy until the moment I could see that your warmth had faded cold.

In your distraction, you pulled away.  I longed to enter into your pain with you and be with you; but you were pulling away and in isolation, you were fading away.  At first, you simply retreated inside of yourself, in a silent place of reflection.  But then, the silence extended and you moved away.  The quiet ripple had become a huge hole that we were all drowning into.  Down, down, and down, we drowned into disharmony, disrepair, and sadness.

Who threw that first stone?  What caused that first ripple of doubt?  I can't see it, I do not understand it; but I want to fight it back!

Point to the one who is to blame and I will cry out!  Something or someone stole my best friend, my inspiration, and my wings.  I will cry out from the rooftops...because I LOVE YOU and I MISS YOU!  I want you back!!

Grieving

I am left here feeling alone, and very sad.  I look for you everywhere, hoping to catch a glimpse and to see you smile.  I wait to hear that you are back, shining brighter than before.

Even if we could never be together again, it would bless my heart to see you shine again.  I want to believe your life is not lost; I want to believe that you were more than a vapour in the wind.

CURSE that interference, that first stone that sent a ripple in our waters.  Let that stone drown in the hole it created!  Let the curse set upon you and upon us, consume itself until it is no more!!

HOPE?

Sometimes I hear reports that someone has seen you or heard from you.  They tell me that you are 'ok' and are just going through some things right now.  They tell me that maybe one day you will be back.

I have gotten used to missing you.  I no longer wait at the door or by the phone, hoping to hear from you.  I understand now that you are gone.  I don't hate you for it, at least not that often.  Mostly, I feel sad.  My heart is only singing half of its song.  I don't know if it can ever sing again.

The world is a lot quieter and colourless without you.  It seems like the day to day grind of business is dull and monotonous.  I simply miss you and I am quietly waiting for you.

Because I love you, I can let it be.  Because you gave me life, I can release you to wander.  Because you cared so much for me, I can let go so that you can be. 

I am trying to move on and I am trying to live.  I just don't know how to sing anymore without you.  But I am trying...

If we never reunite, know that you will always have a place in my heart.  I respected you.  I blessed you.  I loved you.  And I would gladly love you back to life, in my arms.

We could have been something...

(Written by Elizabeth Lewis, 2013, Creative Commons License).