The Courage to Adventure Blog

Authenticity

Coach Sue — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:56:26 +0000

Although I wanted to title this blog “Man in the Mirror” after Michael Jackson’s song. I felt I would be a little disingenuous if I did that. I’m not writing to honor the talented performer here, but to make a case is point about what looks back in our own real or metaphoric mirrors.

Being authentic is basically a way of being……, being true to ourselves and others, genuinely. Wouldn’t you like to walk away from someone and overhear, “What a nice person,” or “I certainly want that person on our team!”? What this means is that “just showing up” may work for you on some level, but will “just showing up,” give you the responses or results you truly want? Are you that “man in the mirror” who wants or needs to change his ways? These are questions to ask yourself if you want your life to be different; if you want your life it to be more than you have now. Are you that person who expects others to adapt to you or are you willing to be part of something bigger that benefits everyone, especially yourself?

In the end, it’s all about what makes your life more fulfilling. What makes life more meaningful for you? What does your heart and soul want to project? Authenticity guided by your soul’s desires will bring about a much more fulfilling life easily. Sounds like something you’d like, right? Living authentically, does not mean a passive life. You don’t have to be that so called rug everyone will try to walk on (for some that might be an expensive Persian rug), but a you that knows you deserve respect, not because you’ve earned it, but because you live it.

Everyone deserves to be honored for their authenticity, including the, “man in the mirror,” who may or may not need to change his ways (ok, and her, as well), one who shouts to be let out and know that being comfortaable in your own skin is worth more than winning or losing, its about knowing the right thing to do, and everybody winning in the long run.

With my utmost respect for all of you,

Coach Sue

Filed under: Life Tagged: Authenticity, happy, transparency, truth

Balancing Act

Coach Sue — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:45:52 +0000

Do you remember in school while taking gymnastics, walking on the balance beam and trying to stay on the 3-4 inch wide beam? That’s how life is for me now. I am balancing my full-time nursing job, which, BTW, I love, and building a business. I love that I have both my nursing and my coaching to keep a balance in perspective. Now it’s about balancing my life. The goal, especially after having breast cancer in 2010, is that I work at these two professions part-time. The time will come when I am able to do that. The time is in the future. My balancing act is now.

Many of us have busy lives, kids, spouses, parents, and all the rest of the family. Where then does the time come in to have fun; to find time for ourselves and recreational pursuits? This is something I am struggling with. Like most of you, I too have too few hours to get everything done that you want to do. Then I take a pause and remember why I am working at two jobs. It is to create balance in my life. To create a space where I can venture out into the big wide world and have laughter, satisfy my curiosity, find new adventures and to meet new people. My current cherished relationships are also at the forefront. If you see a pattern, it’s about connecting. Connecting with myself and others.

Connection is a safety net for your balancing act. Foster your relationships with yourself and others and see what blooms.

Keep connecting with me and discover your own balance.

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: Adventure, appreciation, balance, breast cancer, cancer, celebrate, choice, community, connection to others, contentment, courage, creating something new, curiosity, dream, family, freedom, happy, health, inner self, kindness, life, life balance, open, permission, purpose, relationships, safety, self-esteem, soul, stimulating the senses, support, trust, truth, women

May I help You?

Coach Sue — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:02:06 +0000

When did I learn that asking for help was a sign of weakness? When did I learn that if I asked for help that I would be bullied, stomped on, ridiculed? When did I learn that if I asked for help people wouldn’t like me? When did I learn that if I asked for help I would be a model, an example for others to do the same and that there is no shame in asking for help? When did I learn that if I don’t receive help that I need to ask someone else? Childhood taught me well. Did I learn this from my 5 older brothers, my parents, friends? Who knows.

When did I learn that if I asked for help I would be a model, an example for others to do the same and that there is no shame in asking for help? When did I learn that if I don’t receive help that I need to ask someone else? What I know now is that if you ask for help, it will be there if you ask for it. Will it be there from the first, second, or third person you ask? Maybe. If the help is still not there when you ask, ask someone else. Ask someone new. Reverse these questions and help someone too. Help them because they may need help even more than you. Asking for help actually can create a community of support and friendship. An amazing circle of comfort and growth. What a gift.

Helping starts with you. When will you be an example for others, to give permission to others, that asking for help is a sign of weakness? I dare you to stand up strong and give full permission.

Cheers

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: Adventure, appreciation, breast cancer, cancer, choice, community, connection to others, courage, creating something new, curiosity, freedom, help, inner self, life, love, open, permission, relationships, self-esteem, soul, stimulating the senses, support, trust, truth, women

The RE-negotiator

Coach Sue — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:55:06 +0000

“I can’t stop doing what I promised. Sure you can. No you can’t, yes you can.” This was the tennis match going on in my head when considering backing away from a commitment that I had made and felt I could no longer fulfill. I’ve always been the dependable one. The one who always follows through and who never says die. I might add it was to my detriment, long ago. A marriage and a job ended later than was necessary because I just had to keep re-committing to something that wasn’t working.

Now I choose differently. A step in the right direction and a breath of fresh air. I did decide to re-negotiate my commitment I am referring to. What a relief. I can now still support the cause and be kind to myself. What a concept! This is what us coaches and leaders call a “yes and.” This may or may not be a new concept for you. This is about being committed to the health of you 100% and reaching out to others at the same time. You get to have both. Yes, both. You can make agreements like this for work, with your family, friends, and even yourself. It also gives you full permission to be your true self. To be faithful to what you want to do, carry out, and love.

A big kiss of freedom arises out of your re-negotiator status. Let us learn to re-negotiate how we live our lives gracefully and dependability will become flexibility.

Cheers

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: appreciation, breast cancer, cancer, celebrate, choice, commitment, connection to others, contentment, courage, creating something new, curiosity, dream, family, freedom, happy, health, inner self, kindness, life, love, negotiate, negotiation, open, permission, purpose, relationships, self-esteem, soul, stimulating the senses, support, transparency, trust, truth, women

The Game of Tag Question

Coach Sue — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:55:55 +0000

The Game of Tag Question

I haven’t played tag since I was a kid so I’m guessing this is a grown up version of tag. It’s been a few days since Kathy Plashley of A Life of Freedom asked me to play so here it goes…….

Photo Credit: Microsoft Office

Tag – you’re it!’ – The rules:

You must post these rules.

Answer the question the “tagger” listed for you in their post,

And create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
Choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.

Kathy’s question for me was how many clients do i usually coach at one time?

Excellent question. I usually coach up to 6 clients at a time so that I have work life balance. This is challenging for me these days because my work as a full time ICU RN and my coaching business keeps me quite busy. I love both of my careers and that is why I work at both. The goal is in a couple of years to scale down my RN career and increase my coaching career. Life as a bedside nurse is tough on the body. More nurses have injuries than are probably known, from lifting or turning a patient, to placing them in chairs and then back to bed.

Coaching is another way to express my compassion and a way for me to encourage, sometimes challenge clients to http://joesprimalscream.com/ their way to take baby steps or leaps of faith to what they truly want. I allow them to practice and create in a safe environment without judgment. It is really fun to see the lightbulb go on with my clients. BTW, I am accepting clients right now.

Thank you Kathy for tagging me. Now for my tagging others…….

1. Have a Dream - What http://joesprimalscream.com/ you?

2. Maureena Bivens, PhD - What prompted you to create a blog?

3. Cancer… We “Can” Beat This! - What has been the most surprising part of your journey so far?

4. Joe’s Primal Scream - Where did you come up with the name of your blog?

5. Influencevscontrol - You’ve got a great attitude within your blogs. What keeps you thinking/feeling positively?

6. Warrior-Prenuer - Sharing your knowledge is a large part of your philosophy. When did you decide that community was most important in business?

7. Strategy from the Heart - Tell us about being a mom-preneur and what it means to you.

8. JulieAnne Case - How do you reconnect with yourself?

9. The Reflective Writer - What are the gifts you bring to the world?

10. Mosaic Tutoring - What do you think is the most important aspect of Parental education?

11. A Picture’s Worth - Your are all about memories and maintaining the connection. What stories does your photos tell you?

I love these pay it forward blogs. Yes, it gives me recognition, and most of all it allows me to pay it forward to others.

I’m curious to see your answers.

Cheers

Sue Bock

http://couragetoadventurecoaching.wordpress.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: Adventure, blog, blogs, breast cancer, compassion, connection, courage, curiosity, entrepreneur, friendship, mom's, networking, questions, relationships

Muddy Waters

Coach Sue — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:59:09 +0000

Right now, at this moment, I am struggling with my creativity. I have a project for myself to complete and I am stuck. Stuck in the muddy waters of distraction with my mind literally blank. I know thinking is usually the death of creativity and feelings are where the creativity really starts. I just can’t get out of my head.

I’m going to guess that it’s happened to you, too. That is, when you’ve tried to solve a problem you’ve immediately gone to your head. Your head can be a lonely place or it could be a complete party telling you, “That will work!” then another voice pops up and says, “No it won’t!” All these conversations just trying to help you along when in fact it just muddy’s the water. Almost like it will swallow you up if you let it. You try to see the bottom of the water you are standing in, and all you feel are the catfish nibbling at your feet. Yikes, that feels weird.

Looking for new ideas while typing this blog, I decided to check out YouTube and I found this video. It brought a smile to my face and is nudging me to feel new ideas. Thanks to you, and thanks to the video, I am confident I will finish my project. Here’s to new ideas!

What out of the box activities or actions do you take to break out of the muddy waters and get new ideas? I’d love to read them.

Out of action comes progress and great leaps of faith.

Cheers

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: Adventure, appreciation, breast cancer, cancer, celebrate, choice, connection to others, courage, creating, creating something new, creativity, curiosity, dream, freedom, happy, ideas, inner self, life, love, open, passion, passionate, permission, purpose, relationships, self-esteem, soul, stimulating the senses, support, transparency, trust, truth, women

The Passionate Traveler

Coach Sue — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:30:56 +0000

As I look at a photograph of the village of Sienna, the sun casts shadows on the burnt terracotta colored buildings. I am reminded of the short time my husband Larry and I spent there. I remember the square where the horse races happen every year. I remember the pasta, mushrooms, and Toscana salami from a deli. The mouth-watering flavors, the atmosphere, the awe, and the people watching. I want to go back!

Then a voice of someone telling me….bring that feeling back with you to your everyday life. How can I do that? I wanted to keep that feeling, but I really didn’t know how. Now I get it. Now I live it everyday and I want, I passionately want, more travel. I travel with the eyes of a child. I am curious about most everything. I am fascinated about the wonder of it(life) all. This brings me back to everyday where I look behind the nooks and cranny’s to see if there’s more there.

What brings up your passion? What excites you? What brings out the child like wonder in you?

Come be a passionate traveler with me. Let’s light up your spark so you can share it with the world and see the real you.

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: Adventure, breast cancer, cancer, celebrate, choice, contentment, courage, curiosity, dream, freedom, happy, inner self, life, open, passion, passionate, permission, purpose, soul, stimulating the senses, support, travel, trust, women

Gratefulness

Coach Sue — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:54:54 +0000

I am grateful for my life. It has become full and rich and I certainly want to expand it more. Recently, my friend, Daniel Goldstein and one of his mentors Chuck Roppel of Gratefulness.org, inspired me. Oprah talked much about her grateful journal. It’s my understanding she writes in this journal every night about what she grateful for that particular day. My husband and I now make a practice to say what we are grateful for in each other before falling asleep. Quite frankly a nice practice. The benefits express our love and it gives me a feeling of appreciation, I might forget otherwise.

The practice of gratefulness indeed is worth giving some thought. I have heard the University of California, Berkeley has received a grant to study the effects of gratefulness. That’s how important it is too our psyche. According to Gratefulness.org here are the benefits of gratefulness “The practice of gratefulness moves people in four directions. In our personal lives, it has an inward aspect, restoring courage; and an outward aspect, inspiring generosity. In our social lives, it can be focused one-to-one, reconciling relationships, or it can be focused further afield: as an instrument for healing our Earth through reverence for nature, intergenerational respect, interfaith dialogue, and awareness of opportunities to serve. These four directions add up to a commitment to live in the light of all we’ve been given. That means living fearlessly and therefore non-violently.” Pretty awesome, huh?

I am adding gratefulness (it’s always been there) to my daily life to enrich it and expand it. I’m hoping through this I can also generate others to have more conscious thought about what we appreciate about life instead of what is wrong with this life.

I want am a thriver in the midst of a sea of survivors. How about you?

Cheers

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: appreciation, breast cancer, breast cancer survivorship, celebrate, choice, community, connection to others, contentment, courage, creating something new, curiosity, dream, family, freedom, grateful, gratefulness, gratitude, happy, inner self, law of attraction, life, love, open, permission, purpose, relationships, self-esteem, soul, support, survive, survivorship, thrive, trust, truth, women

Gee Thanks

Coach Sue — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:16:35 +0000

I remember walking down a hallway after a computer class for work. A co-worker came up to me and thanked me for something I don’t remember what, I barely acknowledged her “Thank you.” What I did was, as always, explain away, my action. After, when I realized what I had done, I felt awful. I dissed her badly. I ignored her “thank you,” and then it started to be all about me. Yikes! I always thought I was good at the pleasantries. Suddenly, my eyes were open like saucers and said “&*(^” in my head,(or maybe even out loud). I am arrogant. This I needed to correct.

Graciously accepting compliments and acknowledging their source was something new for me. When growing up I thought if I accepted a thank you graciously, I was being arrogant. That I didn’t deserve to have that praise. That I was being humble. Now, as an adult, I discovered that accepting a “thank you” graciously, is accepting a compliment and honoring the person who paid the compliment. Then you both become right instead of both becoming wrong. What a revelation! What a relief! What a habit I had to change. Eventually, I learned the habit of accepting compliments and “thank you’s” graciously. I feel better for it. I now feel deserving, and I hope in the process make someone else have a better day by accepting their gift instead of rejecting it.

It was a sign of the times being taught that explaining away a compliment or thank you was a humble gesture. What about you? Do you habitually refuse a thank you or compliment? Would you if you realized you were rejecting the other person? That you were refusing a gift unintentionally?

Thank you a million times over for reading my blogs. Please pass it on (my thank you, that is….and if you choose, my blog)

Cheers

Sue

http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: appreciation, breast cancer, choice, community, courage, creating something new, curiosity, freedom, giving, life, open, permission, purpose, receiving, relationships, self-esteem, soul, support, thank you, trust, truth, women

Sunshine Award

Coach Sue — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:17:16 +0000

I am very grateful to “Influenceversuscontrol,” for the nomination for the “Sunshine Award”. I love how this award was presented to me. Thank you for the fun and the appreciation.

The Rules: *made to be broken*

Include the award Logo(s) in a post or in your blog.
Answer 10 question about your self.
Nominate 10 to 12 other fabulous bloggers.
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blog, letting them know about the award.
Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

. What is your Favorite color? Deep Red
. What is your favorite animal? Cat
. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Water
. Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter? Facebook, if I absolutely had to choose.
. What’s your passion? Travel
. What’s your Favourite pattern? Toile
. Do you prefer giving or getting presents? Giving
. What’s your favourite number? Seven
. Favourite day of the week? Saturday
. Favorite flower? So many…..Cala Lily

Now it is time to give “props” to some awesome bloggers. And the nominations for the “Sunshine Blogger Award” are:

1. http://jamesdez.wordpress.com/
2. http://reflectionsfromafriend.wordpress.com/
3. http://photobotos.com/
4. http://knowthesphere.wordpress.com/
5. http://gabbymottershead.wordpress.com/
6. http://bowendiaries.wordpress.com/
7. http://influenceversuscontrol.wordpress.com/
8. http://www.yvonneelmhall.com/
9. http://www.ourlittlebooks.com/
10. http://www.mosaictutoring.com/blog/what-is-a-family/

I hope that you all enjoy the fun and appreciation of the sunshine award! You have all brought me more sunlight (she said going for the most obvious of cliche’s).

Cheers

Sue
http://bestlifeafterbreastcancer.com
http://couragetoadventure.com

Filed under: Life Tagged: breast cancer, celebrate, connection, creating something new, curiosity, dream, freedom, happy, life, permission, purpose, relationships, self-esteem, transparency, women