Joy Based Living

If I have one more close friend tell me that they’d like to be a life coach, I’m going to scream. Seriously. YOU ARE ALREADY A LIFE COACH. THAT’S WHY I’M ON THE PHONE WITH YOU. BECAUSE YOU’RE A FREAKIN’ AMAZING LISTENER. YOU CAN HOLD SPACE FOR WHAT’S WANTING TO EMERGE IN ME. AND YOU DO IT WITH SO MUCH GRACE AND TENDERNESS AND LOVE, THAT BY THE TIME WE ARE DONE BEING TOGETHER, I AM UPLIFTED AND INSPIRED. And that says a lot. I’ve been coaching for almost 20 years. I’ve seen a LOT. I can tell bullshit from truth in a heartbeat and I have come to treasure the deep and honest reflection that comes from a real friend… like nothing else in this world.

I truly believe in my clients, and in their worth, and that’s what keeps them coming back. They know it. They want to believe in themselves the way I believe in them. I’m just a practice place. THEY already have the answers in them. I know that too. And I help them access those answers.

So when my close friends WHO HAVE ALREADY MASTERED THE ART OF LIFE COACHING, wonder aloud about such a “far” away possibility, I want to wake them up and shake them OUT of their trance.

I’m blogging about this because YOU might be a MASTER LIFE COACH already, and if you don’t know it, yet you are resonating with everything I’m saying here, then I want to wake you up too!!! WE NEED YOU TO CLAIM YOUR PLACE IN THIS WORLD!!! AND YOU DON’T NEED A FREAKIN’ CERTIFICATE TO DO SO!!!!!

Here’s the problem:

As seekers of personal development and positive change in the world, we have one thing working against us: PERFECTIONISM.

FUCK THAT SHIT. SERIOUSLY. PUT IT DOWN. NOW.

Worst. Enemy. Ever.

And then there’s Trump.Good ole Donald. Tootin’ his horn, shaming people in the process, as loud as loud can be. And he has a right to do it. And he has a platform to do it. Because WE THE PEOPLE give him one.

So this year, I decided to take my POWER back by making him a source of INSPIRATION for me.

You see, HE BELIEVES in his voice. AND HE USES IT.

Damn!

Well, who the hell gave him permission? HE DID.

So, I decided, every time he says something that pisses me off, I’m going to use that as inspiration to claim my voice and DO SOMETHING that makes a positive difference in the world, louder than before. You know, like the drinking game where someone says a word that ends in ‘tion and everyone takes a shot. Kind of like that.

Not yelling (except for this post, which really needed it!). But being more real, more clear, more consistent, and more deliberate in my SHOWING UP.

Since that time, I’ve started a Facebook page for Joy-Based Living, I’ve done a few talks and radio shows on the topic, and I’ve started and successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign to produced a Joy-Based Living Beginner’s Guide.

Why?

Because we’ve never been taught (and it’s important we ALL learn) what it means to:

HOLD SPACE for ourselves or another. Instead, we’re taught to MOOVEVOO… ANDALE’… QUICK!!!

STAND IN THE INQUIRY of what’s wanting to emerge…and listen that still small voice that speaks to you and gives you inspiration and guidance. Instead,we’re taught to DO IT OURSELVES, FIGURE IT OUT, GET GOING… NOW!!! Or feel bad about ourselves if we haven’t.

BE PRESENT TO OUR BODIES. Instead, we’re taught to COVER UP the bad feelings, TONE DOWN the good feelings, Be Somebody that THEY want us to be, follow the leader. AND feel good about it. And if we don’t then we’re told to take medication.

These “Insteads” are cultural traditions. And as I’ve said in previous posts, they WORKED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. They kept us from being eaten by tigers and other wild beasts.

But NOW, if we really want to stand for an AWESOME world (not just a survivalist one), we need to CLAIM our true authentic VOICE and get out there and MAKE SOME NOISE!!! KICK SOME ASS!!!

We need to HOLD SPACE, STAND IN INQUIRY (even in the discomfort of not-knowing) and BE PRESENT TO OUR BODIES.

We’ve got to connect and re-connect to the larger field of LIFE which is all around us, guiding us, supporting us, inspiring us, loving us… because it is with LIFE that we Co-Author our greatest story, our greatest destiny.

And we need each other to make it a JOYFUL one.

Let’s DO this!!!

If you’re a coach, THEN BE ONE!!!!

May your TRUE VOICE be with you.

Love,

Debbie