Welcome to Wholeness
January is the time when we often look at the year ahead and set a resolution. We may even have an internal script for ourselves. Something like, “This year, I’m finally going to ________”, (insert your goal, vision, aspiration, or objective). Or maybe we simplify and just find a word to represent and guide our year. Calm, Confident, Strong, Open, Accepting. Whatever it might be, it signals a reminder of a possible habit or a new way of being. Or maybe it’s not a resolution or word to inspire your way of being, but a tangible and real metric and objective. A milestone that we must reach by a specific date.
Whatever your case may be, we often start the year strong and it feels satisfying to set a vision or goal and see yourself start to make progress. Meaning and progress are seen as two core human needs, so it makes sense how good this feels. But as the calendar progresses, we often reach a challenging point. The ecosystem of our lives hasn’t changed. We’re still in the same environment. We’re still swimming in the same waters. As we turn the corner into February, we sometimes lose momentum or the demands and realities of our lives and worlds get in our way. We could probably make an enormously long list of all the external factors that surface and get in our way. How often do we consider which of these external factors have internal origins? We tend not to look at our internal ecosystem. It could be a persistent inner critic that reminds us of last year's attempt and how that ended up. Or it could be a part of you that distracts you (with the enormous list of possible distractions and opportunities for consumption at our fingertips today). All of this is by no means an indication that something is missing in you.
I’d like to offer you a bit of a paradox instead. What if you started today with the premise that nothing is missing? You are starting from wholeness. You are that calm, that focus, that confidence, that peace, that strength. It’s simply a case of forgetting. It’s only out of view and obstructed.
What exactly do I mean by “nothing is missing”? Let’s look at an example from nature. How might we respond to an acorn in a forest of oak trees? Do we size it up and think “What a joke! It’s so small! No branches, no leaves, not even roots!!” This is often the way we talk internally to ourselves. But that acorn holds within it the potential to become an oak tree. The oak tree is held within that little acorn. You might even be able to imagine that tree and forest now if you stop for a moment and close your eyes.
What if both the acorn and you are already whole and complete? If the conditions are right, both will continue to grow and unfold into more beautiful expressions of innate wholeness.
Back to the paradox. Both things can be true. There may be new skills for you to learn. New ways of being in the world that will bring more ease to your goals, vision, and objectives. I invite you to hold the belief that you are also whole and complete, unfolding into more of your calm, confident, strong, open, and accepting self.
I’d love to hear from you if coaching could help you rediscover this wholeness and let that be a resource to you as you pursue the dreams, goals, or ways of being you imagine for yourself in the year ahead. Reach out if you’d like to chat.
Is this coaching for you?
You want to pursue a dream, goal, or vision and want support in the process.
You have a longing to step into the next version of yourself.
You want to develop as a leader in your workplace or community and be of service.
You are a committed nonprofit, climate, or DEI leader, looking to deepen your resilience, integrate joy, and expand your leadership for effective change.
You want to advance your career AND find more meaning and purpose.
You are looking for new access to creativity and inspiration.
You are at a crossroads or feeling stuck.
You have received feedback or are noticing patterns and behaviors that you’d like to change.
You are more than what you think you are. - James Hillman