Now there is a phrase that made me stop and do a mental double-take: ‘hardening of the oughteries‘. I first heard the term when it was used by a client in relation to herself. We are familiar with what happens in our blood vessels when they fur up from a poor diet, and we end…
When you say ‘yes’, what are you saying ‘no’ to?
What is the cost of saying yes, both tangible and intangible? In our voyage through the tricky waters of boundaries, saying yes to requests from others or to situations that arise when we actually would prefer to say no, is possibly one of the most difficult boundaries to maintain. If I say ‘yes’ to this,…
Boundaries are walls round what?
What is your understanding of boundaries, and how well established are your own boundaries? This is the start of a new mini series on boundaries. We hear chat of boundaries all the time in our modern lives, but what are they and how do we create them? And what are some of the issues around…
Become what you already are
Become what you already are. A bishop used this phrase on the radio this week, and it has stayed with me. We are more than half way through the year now, and the summer season, whatever that means to you, is here. For me, that means less time writing and shorter musings. The year is…
Celebrating milestones
How is your year going so far? Are you celebrating milestones of any size or shape? For me, this is a significant year as it marks 10 years as a life coach. I am chuffed about this, to say the least. I am not sure that 10 years ago I had any idea of how…
Practice what you preach
The last trait of genuine people, as outlined in a recent article, is that they practice what they preach. Genuine people are not self-righteous. They are comfortable in their own skin, know who they are and what they can do, and don’t set themselves up in judgement over anyone else. Living with genuineness makes it…
Getting in touch with our emotions
Do you know what is going on under the surface within your own soul? What does it mean for you to be in touch with your own genuine emotions? And what is the impact of this? A heavy start this week perhaps. It seems that on television and in the media at present that are…
Do what you say, say what you mean
Have you ever come across someone who openly behaves in a different way to how they encourage you to behave? I have past experience in a work environment of someone who quite clearly expressed a desire for us to “do what I say, not what I do!” – ie they ignored their own rules and…
Are you comfortable in your own skin?
Genuine people are, apparently. This is linked to all these different aspects of being genuine – not being attention seeking or needing the approval of others, living with integrity and healthy self awareness of one’s limits, not needing external stuff to be happy (see last week). Looking up the phrase in a dictionary of idioms,…
Can you tell when people are full of it?
This is another behaviour of people who are genuine – being able to tell when people are full of it. This is where we have got to on our meanderings through traits of genuine people. I like writing series like this as the idea simply serves as a jumping off point for reflection and self…