WHAT NOW? LIFE COACHING. - Mushroom to Sunflower Blog

The Patriarchal Model of Womanhood; It’s Called Female Emotional Neglect

17/2/2021

I can confidently say, most of my struggle and pain in relationships is a direct result of Emotional Neglect. Being under-nourished and under-developed emotionally keeps us without the resources to be fully ourselves, to contribute to and enjoy the world as much as possible.

I've experienced this and I see my friends and 'sisters' continue to experience this. It breaks my heart.

The Internalized Patriarchal Model
Childhood emotional neglect is very common and recovery is possible. Even if you were not neglected as a child, if you're a woman, you have encountered the patriarchal model of womanhood. The prime components of this model are female self-sacrifice and female neglect. The model is so ingrained in our culture and in our female and male DNA that we are barely aware of it. We are not only controlled by patriarchal restrictions, we have internalized them to the degree that we are now controlling, editing and shutting down ourselves.

Too Emotional
If you're a woman, you've likely been told at some point, you're too loud, talk too much and you're too emotional. There's a reason for this. It keeps our power in check. To effectively shut a woman and her power down, diminish her and relegate her to the background and constantly tell her she is 'too emotional.'

Female emotions are superpowers. Emotional outbursts happen because they are necessary.

Our Children Are Watching
When we recognize where we are shutting our power down, going along with the patriarchal model and take steps to recover from emotional neglect, recovery is possible.
When we recognize that our children, our sons and our daughters, are watching us, recovery is necessary.

FEMALE EMOTIONAL NEGLECT RECOVERY PROGRAM

*Understand your history of Female Emotional Neglect

*Notice where you are playing small, shutting down, being restricted

*Take effective recovery steps

*Begin to experience your life in a new way

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Intentional Wellness

9/2/2021

With no one really knowing definitively how to avoid this virus and it's new mutations, I fully embrace all of the recommended protocols—I always wear a mask when I go out. I am not meeting with anyone indoors. I wash my hands frequently and I keep physical distance.

The rest of my efforts are going to boosting my immunity and keeping myself healthy. I do know that none of my intentional wellness habits guarantees my health and safety! But I feel strong doing what I can, where I am, with what I have.

Food🥬
I eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day. I'm vegan so this is my 'main' diet.
I do indulge in comforting carbs, because, winter, and comfort! I do limit white sugar and flour, although I am more relaxed about it on the weekends.
I drink lots and lots of water.

Rest😴
I go to bed around the same time every night and get up around the same time every morning. Routine really, really calms anxiety for me. I get an average of 7-9 hours of sleep. I have not always been a good sleeper—as most mothers can relate! I have practiced good sleep hygiene for a number of years and now it's working for me.
I also have an afternoon rest and read time. This is what feeds my creativity tank. Usually about the time I think I might close my eyes and 'meditate' for a minute, I'll get an inspiration of some kind!

Exercise💪🏻
I have a short, daily yoga practice to keep me limber/flexible. I do 1 to 3 long walks/week and short ones almost all the rest of the days. Fresh air each day helps my nighttime sleep. Even when it's bitterly cold, I bundle up thoroughly (no bad weather, just bad clothes!) and at least walk around the block.

Creativity/Hobbies🧶
I do a fair bit of binge watching t.v. and movies in the evenings, but I've taken up crocheting while I watch.
I do something creative everyday. As I mentioned, I crochet, paint, colour, play guitar/piano and/or play with digital photos and graphics (like the one below!)

I spend more time cooking than I used to. On weekends, I look up recipes and try making things I haven't before. I made pretzels! My friend Laureen is a food blogger (Art & the Kitchen). The pretzel recipe is HERE

Fun🥳
It's a stretch some days! It's fun for me to text my friends and family (I love emojis!) and I've brought in our out-door bean bag toss game. My husband and I play a game every day after work! So far he's won more than I, but every now and again I get a win. We also play a game or two of cards on the weekend. I play several different kinds of solitaire on my computer each night before bed.

Gratitude🙏
I do gratitude writing every morning. It sets the tone for the day and I remind myself how privileged I am!

I did not go directly from a burned out, Coca-cola drinking, cheese and meat eating, over weight, cigarette smoking depressive to a person with wellness habits overnight. These habits were a process!
Therapies. Coaches and Therapists. I experimented and took what worked for me.

I do, of course, have low-energy days, even days when I feel sad and discouraged. I know this is 'normal' during the best of times and even to be expected during this very unsettling time. I try not to plan/think too far into the future because the uncertainty makes me anxious. By focusing on wellness each day, I keep myself present and maintain a feeling of some 'control.'

What about you? How are you spending your pandemic days? How is your health and well-being?

Stories About My Journey
Care Giver Burnout
Five Steps to Support Your Weight-Loss Resolution
How to Break Up With Your Bad Habit
Depression, Your Personal Message, The Back Story

❤️VALENTINE'S DAY BONUS❤️

Self-Love Practice

Jennifer Washington
Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Goals, Intentions and Gratitude

19/1/2021

Since I've adjusted to being able to control or predict practically nothing, I have set for myself intentions instead of goals in 2021.

Goals
Goals are focused into the future. They are a specific achievement or destination and they are external.

Intentions
Intentions are centred in the present. They are about relationship with self as well as others and they are not dependent on achieving anything specific.

Gratitude
Having experienced the season just passed in such a peaceful way and from landing in a space where not much is happening—for this I give heartfelt 🙏gratitude🙏—I want to maintain this new 'going with the flow' mode of operation.

Starting with thankfulness each day, I am only doing what is absolutely necessary to be adult and responsible, and the rest of the time I'm doing only what feels good. This is a daring approach for me having spent years and years in control mode!

I have done my own 'Visioning' (see below) and it really works! Based on this visioning, I have created a vision board and some creative art projects. Before, this would have been my 'work.' and the energy of it would have been forced and filled with effort. This time it is flowing from a gratitude-filled, creative place and the energy is light and easy.

What about you? Are you setting goals and/or intentions for yourself? What are you grateful for right now? Have you ever had a 'vision' of your future?

In This Time For the Holidays

7/12/2020

Understanding the Pressures of The Season

This blog is a re-post of Holiday Stress Much?, Published December 4, 2018

Expectation Check
This is 'normally' a stressful time of year. With our current global situation, it is now fraught with increased restrictions, pressures, fear as well as expectation; the expectation to make the best of a less than ideal situation puts even more pressure on those of us who strive to make the season merry.

The Pressure of the Season
Loss: If we’ve suffered any kind of loss, the the pressure of the season intensifies the grief.
Loneliness: Isolation has left many already feeling incredibly lonely. The pressure of the season will make us feel even lonelier.
Not Where You Want to Be: If our situations are less than ideal, the expectations arising this time of year, will make the situation feel even more NOT ideal.

Emotional Check
If you are experiencing any of the following:
Anxiety/worry
Dread
Overall low energy
Sickness
Insomnia
Panic Attacks
Loss
Loneliness
Not Where You Want to Be
You could use some support.

What You Really Need
If you are physically not well, please seek medical assistance!
If you are emotionally and mentally struggling, self-help/DIY information abounds and can really lift you up. (Here’s a ‘gooder’ I wrote a while ago - Happy Holiday Pre-Plan).

But, having a safe place to vent and someone to provide actual, helpful feedback and suggestions for effective shifts that apply to your unique situation, is most helpful.

My Personal Reality
The last couple of Christmases were not great for me. There was much sadness, grief, anger, and emptiness. I've applied all of my tools, resources and employed outside help to process, grow and change because of it. I've experienced a huge shift in my inner and outer world just in these past few months. This Christmas I feel hope, joy and most of all gratitude. It's not the return of these feelings, it is these feelings in a way I've never experienced them before.

Although the road was tough, actually, extremely painful, it is what has enabled me to feel this way.
If you are in a painful experience right now, keep going. Just keep going.

We are In This Time, for the Holidays. Instead of white-knuckling through, filled with fear, exhaustion and/or sadness, I have helpful ways that can shift things for you.

Give Yourself the Gift of Support.

#holidaystressless
#callyourcoach
#willcoachwithsantaheadbandon

Email: coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington
Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Is It All in Your Head?

12/11/2020

The Truth About Your Mind

Have you discovered, as I have, and as many on social media have, our ‘problem’ was NOT that we just needed more time?!

Most of us have been experiencing ‘having more time’ and now see that it has not solved our feeling of being rushed, anxious and like we’re not doing enough. Granted, a big dose of ‘something to worry about and something major to deal with’ has been dumped on us, which has added to our worry, that rushed feeling and that feeling we should be doing something.

Until We Rest Our Minds, Our Bodies Will Not
If you’ve had more time to sleep and have had fewer daily demands and find that you are still very tired, it’s probably because your mind won’t let you rest. It really may be all in your head. You may be experiencing the thoughts, emotions and your personal issues in a way you were too busy to notice before. You are no longer able to push them aside, until ‘later’ when you have more time.

Just Meditate
Have you tried meditation?
Have you tried walks in nature?
Have you downloaded a relaxation app?
How’s that working for you?
These are all great tools. It takes a long time to quiet a mind that has not been quiet for years

Our minds are also wonderful tools. Thinking has served us supremely well. But it is our self-determination based on our altruistic desires (best for self and all) that should, ideally, be running the show, not our minds. When your mind is ‘in charge’ it sets itself on attending to your survival needs, protecting and keeping you safe, but also narrowing possibilities and limiting your experiences.

When Your Mind Can Rest, Your Physical Body Will Be Able to Restore Itself
I have been practicing thought work and calming my mind with many techniques for over 10 years. I see the difference. I am different. I have been able to sleep reasonably well during these global events and all my personal concerns. Note: there will always be events and concerns. When your mind can rest even with events and concerns, your physical body will be able to rest and restore itself.

Once we are ‘fully’ rested, mind and body, we can go about expanding into who we really are, who we are meant to be, above and beyond your survival and protection.

If you find you need help with your thoughts, emotions, personal issues and/or you want to explore possibilities beyond your fear, contact me to set up a consultation.

coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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How to Exorcise That Vague Haunted Feeling

24/10/2020

It is Halloween this week, so I thought it appropriate to talk about fear. Fear can be a motivator—exciting and adrenaline producing, OR it can paralyze—stunting our growth and forward progress.

Real (authentic) fear has a clear source and motivates clear action. Think: A zombie jumps out from the bushes! You will act to protect yourself. You will freeze (play dead), flee (run!) or fight (attack the zombie.) These are instinctual survival responses. You won’t have to process any thought.

Fake (inauthentic) fear is a blanket anxiety or worry that paralyses instead of mobilizing. Think: The darkness, the haunting music, the general atmosphere of suspense while wading through the halls of a haunted house. (or going to grocery store!) It is not clear how you are to protect yourself, but you know to keep your guard up. The feeling of unease literally haunts you.

Unfortunately, we are currently plagued by this vague, haunted fear feeling. Living in this time of heightened uncertainty, our vague fear is constantly on alert. When our brains are perceiving any kind of threat, they are sending us into some form of fight, flight or paralysis.

So, what’s a fun-seeking, resourceful, but slightly scared human to do?

Exorcising Your Fear
Once it is established that you are not in mortal danger (no real-life zombies are attacking you), you can get on with the business of deconstructing the haunting anxiety of this now regular life.

1) Thoroughly Research Your Fear
What, if anything is threatening you?
On a much more subtle level; what don’t you want to know? Facing up to something in your situation that needs to change in order for you to move forward in your life can be very scary.

2) Feel the Fear
The only thing worse than fear is the damage suffered when you’re afraid to feel it. There is an initial reaction to whatever is scaring you, and then a resistance to feeling scared, which increases anxiety, which further increases resistance, and so on. Denial is hard work. If you can, get quiet, close your eyes. Feel the fear feeling. Locate it in your body. Place your hand there. Breathe air around the feeling. Ask it for information. What is it trying to tell you? What does it want you to do or not do? Thank it for protecting you. Breathe and allow it to pass through. Act on any information given.

3) Reduce the Threat as Best You Can
Do your research. Learn what the actual risks and threats are surrounding you and study ways to reduce them. It is understandable that you want to throw up your hands, quit and/or take no precautions at all, but please, don’t let anxiety prevent you from experiencing a safe, yet full life.

4) Look at Fear as a Message
Fear is the raw material from which courage is manufactured. As you move through life—which is a series of overcoming obstacles and expanding boundaries, you’ll notice that fear is never absent. Fear can be looked at as a message that something needs to change. We can look at it as scary or we can look at it as a mystery or challenge to be solved. Once you've researched as much as you can and have reduced the threat to your life as much as you can, there will come a time when, in order to expand, grow and change for the better, you must make a leap (even a small step is heroic!). Do it.

5) Talk About It
The very act of voicing our fear(s), more often than not, puts them in perspective and they become manageable. At the very least, once we've gotten the fear out of our imagination, we see that it is not as large and scary as we thought. Having a sounding board, someone to reflect back to you what you are believing, can shift your belief and change your situation.

6) The Serenity Prayer
Accept the things you cannot change. Find the courage (help, resources, tools) to change the things you can. And understand the difference. We cannot control the actions or beliefs of another person, as much as we’d like to. You do you and give those who threaten your safety a wide berth.

There’s a school of thought that says anxiety is excitement turned inside out. As you exorcise fear and anxiety that appears as scary, zombie-like shadows in your way, you will become stronger and more resourceful. Quite possibly your life will become extremely exciting

Wherever you are and however it's happening for you,

🎃👻Happy Halloween!👻🎃

Need help, resources and/tools? Someone to talk to? Contact Me!

coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Sand to Pearls; 3 Transformation Steps

3/10/2020

“Life is just one damn thing after another.” The internet isn’t clear on whom to credit for this phrase, but it is a sentence to which we can relate.

When life is filled with a myriad of irritants, and maybe you’ve had more time to notice and feel them over these months (?), how does one choose which irritants to focus on? Or to put it another way, which grains of sand should we, with oyster capabilities already inside of us (the power to transform things) turn into pearls?

Area of Least Satisfaction/Most Pain
Maybe you don’t have one major irritant, or hardship going on, but several. A good way to start is to rate how much satisfaction you feel in each area of your life. Rate your level of satisfaction (or happiness)/least painful, on a scale of 1 to 10, in each of these categories:

1=not satisfied/most painful; 10=most satisfied/not painful
Job
Core Relationships
Finances
Physical Health
Emotional/Mental health

Sand to Pearls (Transformation Power Steps)
Once you’ve identified your least satisfying/most painful (lowest number) area, begin applying the transformation steps.

The Sand
Step One: Identify the Irritant
What, exactly is wrong in this area? What is the thing that is irritating you the most? Be honest. Write it all out. Let your inner child be as nasty or as petty as she wants to be.

Step Two: Neutralize the Irritant
What will it take for this area not to be irritating? Again, write out all of your ‘coulds,’ ‘shoulds’ and ‘if onlys.’ You can be as unrealistic as you want here. Brainstorm possibilities.

The Pearl
Step Three: Make a Choice
What are your choices? In every situation we have choices. Even in the midst of a pandemic, social upheaval and political craziness, we still have options and things we can and do control.
Read: Feeling Powerless? What Can You Control in the Midst of the Uncontrollable?

Change the situation or change yourself. Become the problem-solving creator. Choose something you wrote down in Step Two: Neutralize the Irritant. What did you write down that felt like ‘ah hah!’ or made you laugh or gave you a feeling of relief, hope or energy? Pursue that!

Bonus Step: Repeat
Choose the next least satisfying/most painful area and repeat the practice. As you practice this transformation process and produce more pearls, you will begin to view each irritant as a possibility.

The area of least satisfaction/most pain is where the biggest treasure lies. Do Not be afraid of the tough, dark, hard and heavy parts you may be walking through. I have found that my most painful experiences and most difficult relationships have been where I have acquired the most ‘treasure.’ When I have implemented my power to transform, these areas have made me more of who I am and have made my life better.

In the same way sand becomes a pearl, you are becoming, forming and being forged into a thing of beauty.

You are the oyster, a pearl-making laboratory. Your laboratory is run by universal intelligence. You already possess everything to produce pearls.

Need help with the transformation process? That’s what Life Coaches are for! I can help you be a pearl generator.

coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Feeling Powerless?

16/9/2020

What Can You Control in the Midst of the Uncontrollable?

How are you doing? Really?

As things around us continue to be uncertain, I feel anxious most of the time. When I need to venture forth outside of my personal bubble, that anxiety increases.

As the media, social and otherwise, would have us believe, we are far from safe and mostly powerless. This has tripped my survival instinct into hyper-drive. Thoughts of the future makes me nervous. I try not to let myself project too far into it.

I know that feeling powerless makes me feel like a victim. So, I ask myself, what can I actually do to help myself?

Things You Can Control

Your Bubble
Your Bubble is where and with whom you feel safe. Safe enough to be yourself, warts and all. You get to decide who you let into Your Bubble. Do the people around you accept you for who you are? Do you feel supported by them? Do you accept and support them?
Is Your Bubble set up for your comfort and enjoyment?
Guess what? You have the power to make Your Bubble however you want. And, you get to change it anytime.

Your Thoughts
We can’t quite determine exactly where thoughts come from and why the ones that ‘drop’ in drop in when they do, but we can control which ones we entertain. If you find yourself in ‘a mood,’ most of the time, it is worth checking in with the thoughts that are keeping you company. Guess what? You have the power to choose the thoughts you want to think. And you can change them anytime.

Your Behaviour
It is very likely that you are experiencing more emotions, more often, during this time of world-wide stress. And, that’s ok. Feeling your emotions, in fact, is healthy and greatly encouraged. It’s not, however, ok to act recklessly on those emotions. Ranting on social media in a fit of emotional stress is not helpful to anyone, mostly yourself. Acting out in anger or any other kind of acting out, again, is not helpful. Guess what? You have the power to choose how you behave, even in the throes of strong emotions, always.

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What You Consume
What media are you consuming? How does it make you feel after spending time with it? Better? Empowered? Hopeful? Inspired? If none of these things are the result, it is time to change the media you consume. Which brings us, of course, to food and beverages. The same thing applies. How do the things you physically consume leave you feeling afterward? Guess what? You have the power to choose what you consume. You can change them anytime.

What You Do with Your Body
Hopefully, you have some idea what works for your body and what doesn’t. What movement, or non-movement makes you feel good? How much rest is enough and how much is too much? What’s pleasurable and what’s harmful? Guess what? You have the power influence how your body feels.

5 Areas of Power You Own
Your Bubble; Arrange your bubble to suit you.
Your Thoughts; Think pleasant, powerful, helpful, healthy thoughts.
Your Actions; Act like someone you’d want to hang around with.
What You Consume; Consume yummy, healthy things for your mind and body.
Your Physical Body; Listen to and move your body

Once you start to look for where and how you have power, even in the midst of a pandemic, social upheaval and political craziness, you will see many options. The world needs us to exercise our personal power in responsible ways, in order to change the world. We are never as powerless as we imagine.

Coming Soon: 4 Transformation Power Steps

If you’re struggling, feeling powerless and over-stressed, I’d be happy to help you.

coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Things I Say to My Friends About Relationships

15/7/2020

Conversations with any of my friends inevitably turn to our relationships. With the isolation/lock down, we all have more time with our significant others or more time alone.

Approximately 10 years ago I blew up my marriage. I decided I was done, and I wanted out. My marriage had been based on my illusion of ‘how to do a marriage correctly.” It was a steady build, over years, on a faulty foundation. I eventually came to see that what I wanted wasn’t going to happen and I knew what I had was no longer sustainable. Reality could no longer be denied. Being alone and starting over was terrifying. I was in an emotional melt-down free-fall and I lived literally one minute at a time, putting one foot in front of the other doing everything in a state of anxiety. There was nothing to go back to, all doors were closed. There was only forward into a big, dark, scary unknown.

Yada, yada, yada, long story, some miraculous, ‘didn’t-see-that-coming,’ moments and my marriage is resurrected and recreated in a new configuration. He changed, I changed. We chose each other and began again. I do not regret the blowing up. It was necessary and we’re much better for it.

All this to say, I’ve experienced, at least a taste, of what you’re experiencing.

Failed Relationships
To my friends who are feeling less-than and like failures because they could no longer stay in their relationships, I ask;
Why is a long-term, both-parties-are-miserable, enduring marriage/relationship, deemed ‘successful,’ but a union that runs its course, serves its purpose, or becomes unsustainable and breaks up is viewed as a failure?

It worked until it didn't. What many things did the relationship teach you about yourself? How, honestly, does it feels to be out of that relationship? What DON’T you miss about the relationship? How expanded is your life now? What does your independence/self-reliance feel like when you stand up fully inside of it?
Keep going.
It will get better.
Forgive yourself.

Being Single
To my single friends I say; There is no template! Are you feeling bad because you aren't following the ‘rules’ or expectations of society, your culture, your parents/community? Do you really believe in or want what 'they' say you should want? Stop feeling bad about wanting something else! You are allowed to create the life you want to live simply by following what you like and don’t like. It requires bravery, of course. What’s worse, defying expectations and living your life, or compliance and living an inauthentic life?

“It’s nearly impossible to blaze one’s own path while following in someone else’s footsteps.” Glennon Doyle

Re-Relationshiping
To my friends who have done the huge work to free yourself from a painful or extinct relationship and you’ve built yourself again from the wreckage, I say; Please, please, please do not allow yourself to contract back into a smaller version of yourself in any new relationship. Stay expanded, stay whole. If ‘they’ can’t tolerate your bigness, your hard-won full self, that is their own fear. Don’t allow it space.

Doing for Others
To my friends who are doing what’s best for everyone at the expense of themselves, I say; do what is best for you, always. All ways. Doing What’s Best for You Really is What’s Best for Everyone!

What is better? Lying to please others or pleasing yourself and being disliked? Lying to please someone else is a betrayal of not only yourself but also of others.

“Uncomfortable truth or comfortable lies? Every truth is a kindness, even if it makes others uncomfortable. Every untruth is an unkindness, even if it makes others comfortable.” Elizabeth Gilbert

The Marriage of Content
To my friends who have weathered marital bumps (or catastrophes!) and wonder if you’ve settled, I say; Congratulations. You’ve done some hard work. You are brave and strong. But, rest assured, if there is something you are meant to be doing that you aren’t or if there is something you are to be or become, you will NOT be able to stay comfortable for long! Your contract with yourself will be fulfilled.

If you have peace and contentment in your relationship, be grateful for the absence of drama. Enjoy!

For Everyone:
No matter your current circumstance, there are always choices. What can you do, each day, to make it as beautiful as possible?

Want to talk about YOUR Relationship?

coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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Transitional Catalytic Events

17/6/2020

My job is to help people make sense of what they are experiencing, to uncover things that are causing discomfort and pain, and to shift thoughts, feelings and behaviours in order to enjoy a better experience.
So, the question I asked myself today is how do I do all that with this? Easy? Not!

We are experiencing Transitional Catalytic Events. Just as we are (almost) adjusting to the first one, we are now in the midst of a second.

The Makes Sense Part

Transitional Catalytic Events
A Transitional Catalytic Event is an occurrence that forces change. It is unforeseen, not our choice and not under our control, catching us unaware and unprepared. We have no choice but to transition from where we are to something else.

Appropriate Responses to a Transitional Catalytic Event If You are Human

Lay Low
Our natural instinct is to self-preserve. Do not feel bad about wanting to stay in and hitting the snooze button. It is important to soothe ourselves and to take necessary and recommended precautions for our own safety as well as for the safety of others.

Grieve
Being forced out of our comfort zones is traumatic. Some of us can roll easier than others, but the fact is the world as it used to be is gone! We will NEVER go back to the way we were. It is completely appropriate to experience grief. This is an important, necessary step in the process of moving to a better experience. Grief, when properly dealt with (Read more here:) lays the foundation for hope to return.

The What is Causing Our Pain Part

There is No Us Vs. Them
I truly believe that the root of all of our problems is fear. As we persist in pitting ourselves against an ‘enemy,’ we will stay stuck in fear. Fear prevents creative solutions.

The Virus is not our ‘enemy.’
“Other” people are not our ‘enemies.’
These are ‘problems’ we have created, therefore they are problems we can solve, together.

We must ask ourselves:

Why Do We Keep Creating Things That Can Kill Us?

Why Do We Perceive Others as Different and Separate?

How Can We Continue to Brutalize and Traumatize and Call Ourselves Civilized?

The How Can We Shift Part

It Is Personal
In order to solve things in the larger world, where we may feel we have no control, we have to start in our personal world, where we do have control.

Do Your Inventory
In what ways are you living/behaving that is harmful to you physically, emotionally, or mentally?

Where are you ‘at odds’ with others?
If you can’t get along, find common ground, have peace in your own family, with your neighbours, with your co-workers, with people who ‘serve’ you, how can there possibly be harmony and peace in the larger world?

It would be lovely to have governments and leaders that set great examples and serve us in a manner we deserve and expect. It would be awesome if they were responsible and behaved admirably. But reality shows us that this currently is not the case.

The reality is, we must take responsibility for our own beliefs and behaviours. When we start acting in ways that are not harmful to ourselves and others, we can expect it/demand it from our leaders.

Email: coachjenniferwashington@gmail.com

Jennifer Washington

Certified Martha Beck Life Coach

What Now Life Coaching

www.whatnowlifecoaching.com

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