Unexpected Life Coaches
During this holiday season, I have been lucky enough to meet up with friends and family. Some of them I haven’t seen for several years. Although it has been amazing to catch up on squeezing in shortened stories of our lives in a small amount of time, there has been an unexpected result of these connections. People who have been in your world for more than ten years are witnesses of your life. They may not know the everyday details of the fluctuations that occur, but they are observers who see the general arc of your story. You provide the same role for them.
One of the most interesting things about this though, is being able to share your goals for the future. They don’t just know you from the past, or are hearing about the present, they are containers to breathe in the shape of the next phase of your life. One after one, as I retold how I want this next part of my life to go, they listened and supported how I plan to carve out my path. Sometimes my goals can appear quite lofty, but each time I explained them they seemed to solidify deeper in my bones. They are becoming reality. I am starting to believe it is possible to achieve my dreams for the next decade.
Old friends grant you the gift of being mirrors of the past, present, and future. They remind us of how certain values have traveled and remained consistent with us throughout our various haircuts, partners, jobs, apartments, body sizes, or financial status. Yet they also can observe the shifts we have made as a human being in how we want to carry out the remainder of our lives. Through inquiry and reflection with these special people, the universe is providing a sacred space to pause to determine what is truly essential and meaningful.
This upcoming year I will be turning 40, I met with friends who have been in and out of my life due to relocations since my early 20s.
When I brought up my midlife crisis of this upcoming birthday year to a friend who just turned 40, he said “Congratulations. You made it to the next level!” If life is a game, and I am true to the statement of a previous post of being a trickster, I am making it to the next level. What will be in store?
With each “level”, more is unraveled. Our authentic being is longing to be revealed. We remove the layers of our youth in which we try to please our parents, friends, and society. What is left is questioning what our soul longs for.
I am so grateful for each friend and family member I have been able to catch up with. I cannot fully verbalize the impact of how these brief meetings have landed and touched me collectively. As we head into the new year, pause to take in how your experiences with friends and family have potentially served as catalysts of reflection, inspiration, and hopefully action.
