Renewed in the New Year
As the new year rolls in, I find myself reflecting on things observed and learned in the recent seasons. I remain a driven and results oriented fella, yet I’ve become far more contemplative than, I suppose, I’ve ever known. This past year, with the launch of some formal coaching work I’ve been blessed to be part of, there is more to glean and, as a result, greater focus on some things.
The great conundrum in being committed in a coaching relationship (as a coach or a coachee) is the pressing ‘noise’ that some presenting issue brings to the times together. Something is ‘off’ and it demands attention. I have a number of friends who provide different forms of professional help to folks: medical professionals, pastors and priests, therapists and clinicians - they all deal with folks who have symptoms that need attention while having deeper, causal matters from which the symptoms revealed themselves.
When the core of the matter is revealed, the symptoms can change over time. *Or you could just put a bandaid on them.
The good news is that we can work on both. We can address both the symptom and the underlying.
We need regular reminders of that which some great thinkers and contributors have passed along over the centuries. The current ‘stuff’ going on in our lives and world are not new problems or issues. Rather, they are reminders of things that are fundamentally and principally going to happen if underlying matters are left loose and swept to the side. As the famous saying goes, there’s nothing new under the sun.
If we truly want a flourishing life, family, friendships and business, we simply must listen to things that are true. If we dare to look at, and listen to, truth we can assess, make needed course adjustments, and move forward liberated from the morass of ideas that are trendy and might help, assured in the truth of what does work and, then, get to it with renewed focus and commitment.
Review and identify your core affections - that is probably the most practical thing I ever help anyone do when working (ie. coaching) with another. What do you most love is the question we must ask and answer for ourselves - especially as we make renewed commitments and set ourselves up for success. And that question, when you’re working hard on a particular area, can seem irrelevant or distracting. Honestly - It’s a toughy! Folks usually want to talk about what they currently don’t like and discuss how they might fix that somehow. But to get anywhere productive we have to identify what you love. What your affection turns towards and pursues with wholeness, when that is rightly ordered as a first love, it is quite profound what else you can achieve.
Reordering your affections is the pathway to flourishing. First loves, in first order, is tough work. We need help. We need guides and mentors. We need time, reminders, reflection, grace.
Folks whose wisdom has spanned time and testing is accessible in spades! St. Augustine, CS. Lewis, Plato for example - dig into their impactful lives and learn. At the core I find the central message being this: I am loved, therefore I can live from that all sufficient truth. And that truth changes everything.
If I want to flourish, I must learn to pursue that truth WHILE I work on the daily goings on of life.
I stumbled across a fella from Lousianna who writes eloquently on the matter and thought I’d include a link he’d written for consideration.
My heart for you today is one that points towards a flourishing new year this year. If I can assist in my writing, I humbly do so. If there is reason to connect and discuss walking more deliberately together, then reach out by email and we can set that up too. Remember, walking with someone is important and irreplaceable in this journey (see last week’s blog for some encouragement in that regard).
Renew with reordered loves, my friends. YOU were meant for this season and this year to be the best year!
Peace
Craig
