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By Jacquie Hale
Recently I was privileged to see Tim Gallwey demonstrate the remarkable phenomenon described in his book The Inner Game of Tennis. Tim contends that the body knows how to do things like hit a tennis ball or ski down a slope without painstaking instructions. It was awesome to see beginners smash the ball over the net in beautiful form after only minimal instructions such as, ''Say 'bounce' when the ball bounces and 'hit' when you hit the ball.'' We saw that the instructions get in the way of the learning.
In coaching, we believe that each of us is whole, creative, and resourceful, and just like in the inner game of tennis, we know what to do. We have what it takes within us to figure out what we need. In life, as in tennis, too many instructions can just make it harder. Many of us grew up trying to make our parents happy. We could still hear their voices in our head, telling us what they thought we ought to do. Many people start off their adult life following the instructions carefully laid down by a well-meaning parent or teacher. Go to school. Get good grades. Be a success (whatever that is!). Be a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, a lawyer. However, later in life we might realize that we never actually looked inside ourselves to find what we really wanted. When we turn off all those instructions from parents and society, we can get to the real truth.
It often isn't easy to quiet that voice some call the Inner Critic or the Gremlin. Whatever you call it, it's a chatterbox, and it's constant instruction keeps you from finding out what is true for you. One way to find a quiet place away from that inner voice is to daydream. Let you mind go to Fantasy Land and just notice what comes up. It's fun, relaxing, and enlightening, and it isn't even fattening. Try one of the following scenarios:
Magically, you have a free day-everything is free. You can be anywhere in the world you want. You can fly there in a moment. Where will you go? What's the weather like? What are you doing? Who's there with you? What's the most fun you can imagine?
Surprisingly, you have an extra day in your week somewhere there between Friday and Saturday. No business, no family obligations, nothing needs to be taken care of. It's a day just for you. You're at home with everything you need to do whatever you want. What do you do? Do you eat, read, sleep, create something, listen to music, garden? (Sorry, no watching TV--this is a creative day.) What would make your dreams come true.
Your office has benefited from the Midas touch. Everything you want in equipment has magically appeared. Clients you always dreamed of are listed in your active Rolodex. Your email brings opportunities beyond your wildest dreams. What are you doing, who are you doing it with, what's the most exciting thing that happens?
Such day dreaming is not only fun and rewarding, it turns off the mind chatter and gives you a chance to explore what has heart and meaning. Pay attention to what you decide to do, who you decide to be in your daydream. You might find that you have the soul of an artist or the heart of an adventurer. You may realize that you want to use those years of music lessons after all or that the kinds of business deals you really want to make have to do with saving the environment. Your day dreams can be a snapshot of what your soul is yearning for.
Once you figure our what you want to do, the next step is developing a plan for getting it. It sounds simple. How could anything be simple in this complex world. What it takes is turning off the Inner Instructor and listening to that small voice that has been trying to be heard. That's the starting point. Happiness and contentment is the goal. What are you waiting for?
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(c) Jacqueline Hale
Jacquie Hale may be contacted at http://www.vibrancecoach.com. Jacquie Hale has 20 years experience in hospital laboratories and another 20 years in holistic health with an advanced degree in Natural Health. She is a certified coach who combines her extensive background in health with her coaching abilities to help people discover a healthy lifestyle that leads them to happiness, fulfillment, and optimum well being. Jacquie believes that our wondrous bodies often provide signals to help us discover our emotional and spiritual direction. Often our illnesses and symptoms are wake up calls to help guide us on our lifepath. Jacquie is a founding member of Insights to Health wellness center in Alameda, California. She writes and holds teleclasses and workshops on health issues and life purpose.
Welcome to the place where you can finally get to work on your dream!
HowMuchJoy.com
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