I have been passionate about the Now What Program for some time now, you have read my reflections on it here. What never ceases to amaze me is how many ways the value of this experience can rise to the surface. Yesterday, September 2nd was my son’s 18th birthday. A week earlier I had dropped him off at college. It was hard to leave, but not as hard as I thought. I got through the first week without him, barely shedding a tear. I knew all week I would be seeing him again, I am happy about the choice he made in colleges, he is happy, content and enjoys time with a circle of friends. So I went up to see him yesterday. It was a 2 hour drive, a beautiful one at that. I arrived in time for a yoga class and then planned to meet up with him.

It had only been a week and already he seemed more mature, wiser, more courageous. He had just eaten so there was no sense in eating again so we just found a place to sit and talk. I felt there were so many things I wanted to tell him.  As I listened to him talk I realized I did not have to tell him anything. He is strong, brave and sure. I realized he had turned out exactly the way I always dreamed he would. I told him I had come because I really wasn’t sure what else to do. He looked at me and said, “Now you get to do your coaching.”

You see I first heard about the profession of coaching when he was less than a year old. I wanted to have a coaching career then but being a mother became more dominant in my life. For me being a mother was a full time job, I am a single parent so I was his mother and his father. I don’t regret one day of life since he was born. However now, our paths must change. He is creating a new path for his life and it is finally time for me to create the path I have always wanted for me.

So here I am beginning a new transition. What a perfect opportunity to uncover limiting beliefts, rely on my intuition and create the possibilities that are there before me  Transitions can take on so many forms. How many can you think of? Okay so far we have:

  • life after your son/daughter goes off to college - now what do I do with my life?
  • new career - I’m finished working for someone else, what about me?
  • transition to retirement - now what am I going to do?
  • company layoffs - what else can I do with my life
  • graduating from college not sure what I want to do with my life
  • marriage and children but I don’t just want to stay home and raise kids
  • after divorce - time for a new beginning

As much as it hurt to say good bye to my son, I also knew today was the first day of the rest of my life. Hiding behind raising my son was safe and convenient. I had a noble cause, raising my son, but it kept me so preccupied and busy that I did not have to challenge myself to take on new risk, new opportunities, new adventures.

What is exciting to focus on are the possibilities! The 9o day program to uncover a new life direction, is exciting work. However, it can be very scary to discover new possibilities. Telling the truth about what you want, realizing past negative patterns and even seeing your dreams come true can hold unpredictable emotional reactions. Behind all the emotion and uncomfortable moments is the opportunity for growth.

You will be encouraged to courageously begin to analyze your beliefs, one at a time. Ask yourself, if you have sound reason for each of your beliefs. As you do this, you will find that many of your strongest convictions have absolutely no foundation. You will also begin to realize that some of your beliefs are toally absurd. For the most part, our beliefs are something we inherited, learned and practiced for many years. Regardless, one of the most important responsibilities each of us faces is to review out personal belief system. Some of our beliefs are keeping us blocked from moving forward, in this program we will look at those and replace them with more empowering beliefs.

I have long believed that my life was made better by being my son’s mother. I have given it my all and it is a wonderful son. Now he is ready to create his own path and as such I will get to shift my limiting beliefs with empowering beliefs for my own life. I am no longer marked in the world only by my role as mother, I am also a coach, a motivator, a leader and a successful business woman.

” The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” John Ruskin

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