life coach

I am a fruit basket of serendipity. I ask for apples and apples fall into my lap. Not to say that every day is easy, but I seem to find what I need when I need it.

Today I had my first session with a life coach, provided as part of my "Leading from the Front Line" course that I'm taking at work. I sat in my car with my cell phone (people walk into my office like it's the skytrain station) and talked for 45 minutes. Christina is the coach who will be working with me, and with the other students in the course, for the rest of this year.

We had a "getting-to-know-you" kind of talk. I had done the pre-reading, and knew that I should expect a conversation that was for me, about me, and intended to help me maximize my experience in the course and in life in general. We talked about journeys, mirrors, colour preferences, inner voices, obstacles, me-time, priorities, choices. It was good, and interesting. Christina mostly asked questions, then reflected and re-directed my answers.

At the end she asked what I think now of coaching. I told her it was interesting and I looked forward to the next session with happy anticipation. By paying attention to me, she help direct my attention to myself. That's an unusual feeling, having someone help you look at yourself for almost an hour. I told her I felt like she knew me a lot better but I didn't know her very well because she asked all of the questions and I did all of the talking (about me). She told me that I probably know more about her than I think, just from our conversation. She said, "People aren't really their stories." This reminded me of something a counselor told me once a long time ago: "You are not your experiences. They are things that you go through, and that go through you. You are you all the while."

I feel like the time is right for doing some reflecting and understanding. I'm sure it will help me get more out of the course, and life in general. It's a time of change, so the help is timely.

question: did you ever catch an apple when you needed one?

mompoet - sometimes I get a grapefruit when I thought I wanted an avocado, but it's all good.