Simplicity

being present is what really matters

I often attribute the appearance of this virtue to the material side of life, needing to minimalise my stuff. Today this virtue lands with me in relation to my thoughts, speech and actions. Let me put it into context for you. I am a member of a private facebook group for black people in my city. It was created a few years ago and I learned of it last summer at the height of conversations around the Black Lives Matter movement. There is little activity on the page but occasionally, someone will share an article of interest or some music video that expresses the need for the eradication of racial prejudice. Last week, one woman poured out her heart about a personal situation at her place of work. She was distraught, angry and hurt. Several people gave cursory advice, and asked questions. I reached out to her and asked her if she would like to talk about it and offered myself as a sounding board. She was willing and that first conversation will take place later this morning. I have been thinking about this upcoming conversation as a possible niche area I would focus on for coaching. All that I am learning in my coaching course came flooding into my mind, including all the marketing strategies. Simplicity reminds me that this is not the time for this type of conversation. This is the time to listen deeply for the true questions that I may ask to enable her to empty this burden that is weighing her down. It reminds me to trust that the answers will unfold when the time is right. The practice of simplicity for me today involves taking the focus off of myself and the trajectory of my coaching business, to see and hear a soul, to allow this tender heart to open to the healing it so yearns. Although this card does not speak about this aspect of its application directly, it does mention freeing our minds from the stress of overdoing. This, I believe is where my focus ought to be. It is a nudge to orient myself on the person before me not on my own prospects. After all isn't this aim and purpose of coaching? Simplicity reminds me to be myself, not seeking to impress but being what this dear person needs right now, in this moment. It shields me from taking on the unnecessary things of this world, in this example it comes in the form of my own self-interest and attachments. I cannot describe how freeing it is to realise this, and turn my attention and energy to what really matters...the heart of another!