Coaching with Gratitude

This week I was inspired into reflection by a conversation with a client. Their willingness to explore a challenge they were having and look at it through new eyes in our conversation was filling me with gratitude and awe.

Going away from the conversation that client had some great baby steps they were going to take into some new action.
It sparked me to think “How did I get so fortunate that someone would share and be willing to go to this place with me?” It wasn’t long as I sat in the sun that I remembered a time that I was that client about 25 years ago.

At that time in my life I felt painted into a corner with a particular issue I was having in my life. In those times I was inclined to break down the obstacle, put all my energy into it banging and bashing up against it until I either broke through or got bored with the process and resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t overcome the issue.

At the time I was in a place where I knew I wouldn’t be able to use my patterned way of showing up for this issue. I don’t recall how I knew or why I knew, but I knew. Feeling lost I knew in those moments I had two choices. Avoid or ask for help.

Well I avoided the issue for some time because that seemed easier, but eventually as I realised this “thing” would not go away I needed to ask for help. Once I mustered up the willingness to look at this challenge the new actions came to light. I realise now that I was changing the way I looked at things. Of course this happened slowly and through many conversations, but it happened just as it happened for my client.

There is where the gift of the coach and coachee relationship resides and for what I am truly grateful for. As we support our clients to new ways of looking at their world we too are catapulted into new reflections and inspired to have new ideas on how to move forward and grow as coaches. While that is happening the client is taking new steps and exploring new realms of their lives they truly have concern with.

How awesome is that?