“Pain is inevitable...suffering is optional".

The last five months have been very hard, and the last few weeks before I set off, particularly so.

I’m sharing to increase congruence - which is vital in the work that I do. This is NOT a sympathy request post, or attention seeking, or an invitation to ask for further details. If you want to offer me commiseration, I appreciate you, and that is not what this is about, thank you. 

I'm sharing because I don’t believe in only sharing the ‘polished results’ and happiness.

I’m sharing to show how I very much walk the talk WITH you. 

I’m sharing to allow you ALL to give yourselves permission to feel the same.

Over the last few months I’ve been thrown back into places that I thought were behind me because, well, “I’ve done so much of the work!”

By ‘the work’, I mean how I work with my own clients. The work of going deep to learn yourself, accept yourself, crush that inner critic, deepen self-belief, to finally love yourself and therefore be able to emerge even STRONGER and SHINNIER.

This investment of time, energy and money in giving myself the best chances I can… Surely, that’s enough?!

Well, it 100% HAS enabled me to continue to be a version of myself I used to only dream of - EVEN in the midst of all the pain.

But.. it’s not enough to protect from pain, and, because I am a human, I thought this was unfair! (Until I remembered - expecting life to treat you fairly because you're a good person, is like  expecting a lion not to eat you because you're a vegetarian!) 

It’s felt very hard. It's felt - and can still feel - bleak at times. I’ve been on a roller coaster.

Pain is a very real part of our human experience, EVEN when we’ve done ‘the work’.

And yet…I have STILL been able to live.

To enjoy life.

To serve my clients as powerfully as they deserve.

I’ve been able to show up, serve and also treat others with grace

And, thankfully …despite this, my inner critic was immeasurably quieter.

And that quietness allowed me to focus on pain survival …

And that's BECAUSE I’ve done the work and continue to invest all I can in it.

The tools and the learning and support have proved utterly invaluable, and I have NO idea how I might have coped without these tools and support - possibly gone back into self-destructive behaviours that were part of my previous trauma response.

But, not this time, oh NO! Here I still am…and here I still will be. Sad, sometimes, certainly. But Shiny, not shrinky, despite it all.

I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks that will help anyone wanting to strengthen their foundations - coaching hints, tips and tools to help YOU navigate whatever you need to:

• enable YOU to crush that inner critic that can get so loud, especially in challenging times

• enable yourself to stay unapologetically true to yourself in the midst of intense difficulty

• create that self-belief that becomes a foundation on which you can rely on when all else seems to be falling apart

I'm so grateful that, as you are reading this, I am able to take time out to recharge - and I hope that some of you are able to do the same when you need to.

And if you want to talk more personally about how I can help YOU build strength and confidence, my diary is open for booking a call with me when I am back.

Freedom awaits

P.s. if you want to learn more about what working together could look like, watch this talk