The way life is unfolding, I don’t think it’s possible for any of us to go very many days without running into ‘stormy seas’, if not ‘rogue waves’, in our everyday lives – I don’t see any way around that. But here’s the thing …

Looking back over the last month there’ve been a number of challenging situations in my personal life. I wouldn’t call them rogue waves, but the water has certainly felt turbulent, and the waves have been coming from a number of different directions. I’ve been anchoring into the practices and principles of this work in a big way – and grateful for them! I’ve also been thankful for the support of those around me who have expertise that’s way beyond mine. This is especially true in the technical arena when a couple weekends ago, a friend let me know my website was inaccessible – that was just one of the waves!

	Hmmm, I wonder … ? Image iStock/SI photography

So I’ve been learning, growing, expanding my capacities in a number of areas, and holding the vision that last Thursday (the planned start date) I’d be leading a group of intrepid explorers ready to find and strengthen their sea legs. However by Tuesday, it was clear that there weren’t enough participants to run a group program. I’d known the numbers were small, but I’d been hoping for a last minute rush of sign-ups, and that didn’t materialize!

Here’s where my experience with the principles and practices of this work were so powerful. Even as I held and soothed those parts of me that were feeling understandably disappointed about the way things had unfolded, I could feel myself opening into possibility. I noticed the power-full question embedded in my model “Hmmm, I wonder …?” was playing in my thoughts.

While I certainly had to breathe with the parts of me that needed to exercise the capacity for being patient when things don’t quite come together in the way I’d imagined, I actually never found myself down in that painful triangle at the bottom of that model. My wondering wasn’t from that “Poor me, …” place. Nor was it with any sense of judgement of myself or anyone else – the “Damn you, …” space. Perhaps the thing I celebrated most, that points to the power of this work in my own life, was the absence of that crippling and overbearing sense of over-responsibility and the sense of needing to rescue those who had said “Yes” and now wouldn’t have the experience we’d hoped to have together. Of course I was in touch with them and together we’ve co-created a way forward that works for us, but that was from a place of partnership – no shades of “Poor you, …”.

Attending to that also freed me to begin to explore (without shame or blame) the things that had contributed to this outcome, and also wonder about what I intend to do differently next time. And of course there’ll be a ‘next time’! This work is too powerful and precious to not share more widely.

While some things are already clear to me, at the moment I’m still in that place of wondering. I am being here now, being who I am now. And … I am sensing into what it’ll take for me to be the one I continue to become – a teacher and leader of people committed to being powerfully present in their lives – even when storms and rogue waves hit.

One of the things I want to do is to get clearer about the language others use to speak of the challenges they experience in handling those stormy seas. I intend to offer at no charge, a number of 20 minute sessions where I can learn more about where your challenges in this area are, and the outcomes you’d like to have. In being clearer about what you really care about here, I can point you to the parts of this work that would support you in moving forward there. It’ll be a win-win time of connection. So if this taste test of the work intrigues you, be in touch.