Am I the only one who has endured grief and loss?

Sadly, all humans experience grief—it's a difficult reality for all of us.

Grief is best experienced in 'doses'. Be patient with yourself and others. This is a journey that can not be rushed, although it can be honoured, befriended and integrated over time.

Over time, I hope your grief softens and transforms into something that allows your natural compassion to shine even brighter, bringing comfort and kindness to yourself and to those around you. Although the journey is yours, you need not traverse this journey alone.

Reach out to trusted others around you. Ask them to listen. Tell them what you want and what you need. Find people who hear you, who see you.

And if you feel like a grief and loss support group is a meaningful fit for you right now, reach out to join (or receive more info) on the grief and loss support group starting on October 8th. (10 weeks).

Lead yourself well.

Has anyone else taken the road less travelled (on more than one occasion)?

Yes, I'm still working on my masters level of coaching. I've stopped and started the final chapter several times.

• At times, it was grief and loss that shifted my attention to time with my people that mattered more than an MCC level of coaching.
• At times, it was the determination to be present to the unwelcome and unexpected circumstances that put a pause on the last piece of my coaching submission work.
• At times, it was the sprints turned marathons of purposeful difference-making.
• At times, it was sanity and wisdom that begged me to take a break before I broke.
• At times, it was call of the forest, the ocean, and another road less travelled, less urgent but more important.

Also, the MCC is not a simple certification. And so here I am, back at it again. Soon, I’ll be posting Calendly bookings for very-low-fee coaching sessions to complete the final parts of this certification. Stay tuned or email [email protected] to be on a wait list.

The International Coaching Federation is a non-profit organization dedicated to professional coaching. ICF is an accrediting and credentialing body for both training programs and coaches recognized around the world. My coaches training began in 2005 - and here I am - still loving it, still believing in its power and potential to make a tangible, sustainable, successful impact in the individuals lives of humans and organizations everywhere.

Isn’t life grand? Also weird? Also wonderful?

Leading well has detours for all of us, yes?

Still attempting to 'lead well' in the messy middle.

With smiles.

Zoom out to zoom in.
Look ahead to look back.
Observe to lead yourself well, right now in ways that will matter in 20 years.

Decide who you will give your best life to (while you simultaneously earn an income, because hey - you need money and oxygen to live).

Lead yourself well today and tomorrow and the next day.

Grief and loss are messy.
Messy at work.
Messy at home.
Messy internally.
Messy externally.
All of it is messy.

"Sometimes the obsessives among us try to clean it up. We try to make everything neat and tidy and orderly. We make up rules and we try to enforce them. We create boundaries and timelines and schedules.

It doesn't work though.

The natural chaos of our grief is more powerful than any container we try to put it in. So we might as well let it be messy and trust there's meaning in the messiness."
(writings by Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt)

Normalize the messy leadership path of attending to your mourning and your grief journey.

Lead as well as you can, when you can, without judgement or blame or shame or hurry.

You have my best.