Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | May 27, 2009

Saving Ourselves

Whether or not you know it, this planet will survive. We do not need to rush around saving the planet for the planet’s sake. It will evolve into whatever form it does. That’s simply the truth.

What you do need to consider is how you are contributing to the survival of the species that live on this planet – plant, animal and human. In other words – “what are we doing to save ourselves?”

Many people haven’t or have not chosen to make the connection to why we need to care about the other inhabitants of this beautiful sphere we call Earth. They are focused on their own lives which might include their communities and countries. What we sometimes fail to realize is that what we do to our planet directly impacts our individual lives.

This morning I was so moved by a piece written on the blog of my friend Adrian Hayes’ Greenland Expedition. I’ve heard it before but the photo and the way the message was written struck deep again. Please take a look and share your thoughts. We CAN make a difference every single day.

My commitment right now is to offer only paper bags for the people who pass through the gift shop I’ll be working in today. AND I’ll speak up!

Here’s the link: http://www.greenlandquest.com/blog.php

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 30, 2009

Spring Emerging

This morning as I trudged along my wake-up walk with woodpeckers hard at work and songbirds joining the sunrise, I heard an unmistakable sound – a loon calling. It’s the first I’ve heard this year and it stopped me in my tracks. The sound is so melodic and reverberates across the water. It is associated with the “wild” and untamed land. And, sometimes, I attach a meaning to that first call. Spring is here.

I wonder why many of us place such much importance on spring. Where I live, there are four distinct seasons. They may blend in and out with us trying to figure out which one we are in (especially when we get heavy rain on a January day when snow is mounded several feet around us). In any case there are times when I observe the sign of change and today, that’s the sound of loons in the bay.

To me, spring means new beginnings, growth, fresh air, fresh starts. As I’ve written about before this can happen any day and yet it feels significant when something like the loon call says “Hey, nature is starting fresh.” I simply can’t resist the urge to follow suit. Maybe my internal rhythm is more “natural” than I imagine. Maybe tuning in to how much I am in sync with the environment around me would help me to shift into new ways of being. Perhaps, today is another of those pivotal moments when I get to reinvent my life, grab onto something I’ve been avoiding or to just fully embrace what I have been blessed with.

Spring and loons are so complimentary. Spring and blossoming, growing, re-birthing, possibilities and opportunities are also synonymous. As I marched steadily around the damp moss and fallen twigs I saw the tiny, precious shoots of new grass and buds. When I arrived back home I stared hard into the mirror and saw with pleasure the obvious signs of life renewed. I wonder if I would have seen them if I hadn’t been looking. Imagine how different today might be if each of us took a good long look at the possibilities and opportunities that are written all over our faces.

Imagine.

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 24, 2009

A Life Divided

“I pay a steep price when I live a divided life – feeling fraudulent, anxious about being found out and depressed by the fact that I am denying my own selfhood. The people around me are paying a price as well, for now they walk on ground made unstable by my dividedness.”

Parker Palmer

How will I live my life today? How will you live yours?

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 23, 2009

Begin Again

Here I am – aClimbingt another crossroads and the same crossroads … again.

Somehow I imagined that things would make more sense, be more clear by the time I reached this stage of my life. Surely after decades of pondering, musing and analyzing I deserve relief from the frustrations that continue to hover over my shoulder. And, hover they do.

In the big picture they are incidental. A powerful force keeps me moving no matter what erratic thoughts dance through my head. What confounds me is that these misbehaving beliefs keep showing up and creating chaos when they do. Some of my friends remind me that I am in menopause – as if that is sufficient reason to be in this mindset. While it may contribute, I am also aware that my choice of livelihood has a lot to do with it.

I am a Life Coach and I bill myself as a Transformational Life and Leadership Facilitator. That’s a strong statement of being. For me, it means I talk to people every day about shifting their perspective on challenging behaviours, attitudes and situations. I’m always pointing to the bigger vision, the place of fulfillment that feels so elusive to so many in their daily life. Indeed, we often uncover deep values and strong beliefs that play out in big AND small ways every waking moment. Sometimes they catch their breath in amazement when we make a connection between actions and beliefs. And … sometimes I feel my pulse race when their awakening strikes a chord in me.

When I hang up the phone from a call I take a few moments to hold that amazing person in my heart. It’s important to me that they find a safe haven in our relationship – even in the times when I push them hard. Sometimes, what follows these reflective moments is the parallels that surface between what my client is experiencing and my own life. It is uncanny and many coaches recognize that they are coaching what they “need to learn”. And so it might be for me.

Once more, I get to begin again. Witness the ways I stop myself from living full out; acknowledge my fears; embrace my courageous super-hero inner champion and … begin again.

I’m a bit of an expert at Begin Again. I’ve had lots of practice. Today, when I was deluged with self-defeating emotion I came face to face with yet another chance to Begin Again. Get up. Dust myself off. Find the learning and grow. Even in the moments when I asked myself “Why Bother”, I knew I would. I’m too committed to making a difference and serving others to back away from the scariest nooks and crannies. This is real stuff and not philosophical drama. And just as I have done many times in my life and just as I will do as long as I am breathing … I begin again.

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 17, 2009

Launching

This morning I’m holding the space of love and possibility. That’s my compass point and what will be my guiding intention. Deciding now, will impact how my day unfolds and that matters a lot to me. Not just today, but every day. Setting a clear focus for how I want to be with the world rather than defaulting and reacting. Today I am requiring more of myself so I can be who I want to be in my life and my community.

Almost twelve years ago I set foot on this land – the beautiful Bruce Peninsula slicing through Lake Huron and Georgian Bay – and I fell in love with it. Today, I take the next step in creating possibilities for a regenerated, resilient community. I’m emotional, excited, a wee bit nervous and so glad my colleagues Ariane and Leslie will meet my local partner Judy and our band of committed neighbours to launch this journey.

Right now, as the lake begins to reflect the glow of the sun thinking about rising over the tree line, I can see the ducks gliding across the bay in a picture perfect image. It’s not always like that here. There are days of struggle for those who were born and raised on these sacred lands at the tip of the Niagara Escarpment. And for some who have come home to raise families there is the challenge of how to survive in what has been a seasonal village. That will change this weekend as we gather, connect, share and learn. It has started with a small group of passionate neighbours and word spread quickly. Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

And … we have a firm stake in the ground. We are here for the social, economic and environmental health of Tobermory. Having a stake will help us remember why we are doing the things we do and give us a place to return to when we get lost in disagreements or hit obstacles.

Before I dove into this deeper conversation a few weeks ago I had a full time job as a Certified Life Coach, an Author, Retreat Owner and Transformational Life and Leadership Facilitator. Now, I am so much more. I am a community activist. I am a champion of humanity. For the past year I have been immersed in an international Leadership program where we continuously talked about the changes we could make in the world.

Today, I am starting at home by helping to change what isn’t working right here, on my doorstep.

The sun is just cresting the tops of the old cedar trees and the geese have begun honking to get the day started. A ripple has started to cross the lake and I feel, a ripple is moving through my little town of Tobermory. I don’t want to be anywhere else on earth. I love this place and this place is where possibility lives.

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 13, 2009

Starting Fresh

I’ve often shared this quote by Mary Pickford “If you have made mistakes … there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

Today is a fresh start for me. I slipped over these past couple of weeks and feeling the weight of self-imposed responsibility I veered off my course, let go of my stake. For a moment (in the grand scheme of things even a few weeks is only a moment) I took my eyes off my horizon and … I almost lost my footing.

Several events brought me back yesterday and in particular, last night I watched a program about a beautiful young woman in northern England who struggles with a diminishing physical condition. Her determination was so strong and focused in the face of growing obstacles that I sat glued to the television wanting the best outcome for her. It didn’t happen and I sat in awe of her incredibly optimistic point of view.

I wondered if it is easier to deal with a huge limitation when it is visible and you cannot avoid it rather than those that fester in our minds.  I know that for me it is indeed the thoughts that I engage with that keep me from doing what I know I would otherwise do. Any physical restrictions I might feel are so minimal compared to how I defeat myself emotionally.

Stories of physical heroics under adverse conditions are fortunately pretty common and the benefit is that we have visual accounts (Dick and Rick Hoyt are a great example of this). There are those who would say that there cannot be a fair comparison of physical versus emotional pain. People have died from both and because of both and while I would say that few of us would choose some of the physical deformities that people must live with, I imagine that just as few would choose to live with the mental anguish that many of us put ourselves through.

I know that the effort it takes to stop the flow of negative, self-sabotaging thoughts is just as intentional as the energy it takes to walk without legs . I know because I live it AND when I forget that I have the strength to overcome a lifetime of self-doubt I see someone like Mandy last night and I ask “why not me”. The only difference between us is that she keeps going and stays committed to making her life work.

So it is today that I have a fresh start. I am not staying down. I am not a failure. I am on track.


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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 10, 2009

Tobermory

I love this little town. I love the community. I love living here. AND what I am loving in particular this morning is this new focus of working together to regenerate ourselves and build the social, economic and environmental health of our beautiful corner of the world. We are intentional about ensuring long term sustainability and developing new practices that respect the human and natural resources we have. What an exciting venture!

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Posted in Leadership, Sustainability

Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 8, 2009

Growing Into

It’s a beautiful day and the day I celebrate my son’s birth – 30 years ago. How can that be? I remember this day in 1979 and I remember so many days after that. Loving him and nurturing him and growing him up. What I am most aware of today is both how much I have grown up AND how much I have grown into.

There is this way that I have been gradually coming back to myself. I have a sense that I really lost myself early on in life and progressively throughout my childhood I became who I thought I needed to be in order to feel safe in the world. It wasn’t always what I wished for and I was convinced there was no other way. So here I am now, at 54, with a 30 year old son, looking back and being in awe of who I have become.

I like me. I like the me that hesitates to be seen and the me that lets herself be clearly visible. I also like that I am still growing into the woman I know is just under the surface (and more revealed every day). It reminds me of one of those poorly designed Halloween costumes where your real clothes inevitably stick out from underneath. We all know there is someone under all that stuff and yet we have to face the mask that keeps them out of sight.

Growing into myself means a lot these days. I have been making some very bold statements lately – to myself, to friends, to clients. To say it out loud and here feels raw. I am demanding courage from others – the courage to “stay” with feelings that typically make us run (to food, to work, to substances, to any number of escapes). I know it is just a matter of time before I will have to give up this tiring habit of avoidance if I am to move into the next stage of my personal growth. And it is tiring.

So, today is a new day. A “birth”day in many ways. I’d rather have this growing into than the standing still that dominated my younger years. Onward ho!

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Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | April 8, 2009

Asking For Help Doesn’t Mean I’m Helpless

What a concept! Incredibly for many years I was afraid to ask for help – especially when I thought I “should” know what to do. Many of us equate asking for help with being dependent and vulnerable. I always did and of course that had me feeling “less than”. In the past year the my leadership program I’ve learned a new way of asking for help and have discovered the value of partnership.

Asking someone for help, from an empowered place of wanting not needing, gives me an opportunity to expand world. I learn more. I connect deeper. I tap into my own resources by standing on someone else’s shoulders. It’s a good feeling to be supported and encouraged in my attempts.

What I realize is that I’ve been making up a story about asking for help. There are people in my life who thrive on being needy. They are always whining and complaining and acting helpless. When I think about it, they rarely ever directly ask for help. It seems to me that I have been mixing up my definitions and now … I’m free to reach out and ask others for help. It gives us both a nurturing way to connect.

Be inspired.

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Posted in Leadership, Personal Growth

Posted by: Ms. Daryl Wood | March 31, 2009

My April E-Newsletter

Early today I sent out my April newsletter with the title The Courage To Change. After writing about how hard it is for people to change I stopped and asked myself if that is true for me. Sometimes, it is.

When I am wishy washy about what I want I simply don’t have what it takes to do what it takes to get what I want. And, even when I am certain about my goals and dreams, I can still get stalled when the going gets rough or I need to break through self-limitations. What I’ve learned is that having a coach is one of the best tools I’ve ever had to seeing my way through the changes in my life. Surprisingly, I don’t have a coach at the moment. I’ve just completed a year long Leadership program and felt I had no room for more. Now that it’s over, and even though I am still involved with the Leadership colleagues, I am realizing that I miss the personal focus that a coach can provide. So, it’s time to walk my talk.

Coaching isn’t the only solution AND it is what I know will work. I’m embarking on new projects and I am determined to be successful. It only makes sense to use whatever resources are available. So, stay tuned. I’m upping the ante for myself. Here’s a link to the newsletter:

http://www.darylwood.com/shorelines_april_09.htm

May you be inspired. Daryl

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Posted in Leadership, Personal Growth

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