There is no denying that 2009 has challenged everyone. Now as the clock turns to a New Year and Springtime we naturally begin to consider the future. What do we want or need from our New Year’s Resolutions? I just came across the following quote and it may be a good place to begin:
“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
To all friends, clients and casual visitors to this site: May 2010 bring success that matters to you.
Regards
Niall
In 2008, The New Economics Foundation was commissioned by the UK Government’s Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Well-being to identify a set of evidence-based actions to improve well-being, which individuals would be encouraged to build into their daily lives. The resultant publication is available by following this link.
The five ways are:
There is a nice set of postcards you can purchase on the nef site and perhaps these could be a more meaningful alternative to Christmas cards this season?
Does the night drawing in around 5pm cause us all to reflect? When we lived a more natural life in keeping with nature and her growing cycle, November was a time for rest, enjoying the produce of the harvest and conversation in the evening.
‘Eveningtime’ Something in that word causes me to notice. Do we have evening time any more? Our days are often divided into just day and night, work and rest, office and home with less of that period of winding down, relaxing before night, ‘When I get to sit down its too late to relax’
We now have light beamed into every dark corner and if we want to relax there are so many distractions around us. But what will the future bring? As our ‘economy’ falters more of us have more time, as peak oil and energy costs impact in the coming years will we still have the extravagance of all these light filled spaces? Is this going to be a lifestyle crisis or opportunity? At the recent Ceiliúradh conference in Tipperary Institute Rob Hopkins posed the question: ‘what stories will we tell our children and grandchildren?’ If the stories are to be real then what could we be ‘doing’ at this point so as to have stories to remember?
So where do we want to begin our story? What story would you like to tell your grandchildren in 30 years time? How could we begin the story in terms of how we responded to the need to preserve the earth’s resources, reduce our carbon emissions and respond to increased unemployment and financial pressures?
Where does coaching fit into this? Through coaching we obtain clarity and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the areas we want to progress on. Coaching can assist one to begin the journey.
Putting myself forward via this new website promoting coaching represents a step through to someplace new, yet someplace familiar. The stile in the picture represents for me the process of stepping through into this new place. So many of us are being faced with big decisions now and ‘not stepping through’ is often not an option. The stile in the picture was recreated by a local craftsman about 10 years ago. It was the access to a farmhouse, long since gone, and with salvaged materials including a sandstone flagstone it became functional once again. It now serves to access into one of our cottages where visitors come to relax, unwind and sometimes experience coaching. In stepping through this stile I usually rest my hands on the cap stones for support, but just a little. Perhaps like coaching, some support when needed, but one makes the transition independently.
