Tuesday, February 26, 2013

From Ooops to Ooohs

I had the most interesting experience this morning. Once a week, I have a call with my own life coach. It's great for many reasons - she's really fantastic at supporting me, calling me out when I'm playing small or hiding, and my coach keeps me focused on my big Agenda that I have for myself. This morning I realized that I was a bit scattered and asked for permission to put away the beef stew that had cooked overnight in the slow cooker since it'd been out for too long. As a coach, I really prefer that my clients are fully present on the call. Often it is quite distracting when clients are eating their lunch or driving and being coached. I've even had a client do both simultaneously while I coached them. I felt bad for not being fully prepared for my call with this minor distraction.

So I ladled the stew (actually, we call it stoup because it's more like a soup/stew) into the containers. And the question was "what is here for you, right now in the moment?" A great coaching question, always. And for me it was watching this ladle scoop into the stoup and transfer to the pot. A realization that I was so distracted that, for the first time in 17 years, I had forgotten to add the pasta and the vegetables in the last hour of cooking. And then a sip of the broth and moist tender beef crossed my lips. And a smile.

In the moment, my beef stoup oops became my beef stew ooohs. There is learning in all things, you just have to see it. 
  1. I saw the ladle as a metaphor for all the people who are showing up in my life to help me in one form or another. Whether it be my coach, new networking acquaintances, classmates or my wonderful friends.  
  2. You can do something you've done a hundred times before and still make mistakes. But what is there to see, acknowledge, appreciate in the mistakes? What is the lesson that is available to you? 
  3. While I had forgotten to add the noodles and the vegetables to the stew, what I did have was a fantastic foundation for whatever I wanted to make. I could add cooked rice, barley, different veggies, whatever. The metaphor here is: YOU/ME are the foundation of our lives. We are ENOUGH just as we are. Everything else is just an addition to our fantastic selves. 
  4. It is exciting to try something new and unexpected. A happy accident. 
  5. Finally, the biggest AHA moment I had was that I've literally been stewing/contemplating about life and not doing what I need to do. Percolating away with ideas for my coaching, speaking, comedy, and Pampered Chef work is great, but I'm also hungry for more progress, for more action. 
I truly love and feel privileged to be a coach and to also receive coaching. To have someone who is fully present for you, to have you be fully engaged with your mind and body, to hear/see the nuances of your life, and to echo them back. Wow. What I love is the action that comes from greater awareness. I truly love what coaches do for this world. I feel so blessed.

Where in your life have you had an OOPS that turned into an OOH?