 All summer I've been taking my kids to the pool and letting them douse themselves with a happiness also known as swimming. Of course, in their case, it's a little like swimming and a lot like tippy toeing to keep chin above water, blubbering when it finds its way up their noses, fidgeting with poorly fitting goggles and hanging onto mama. However, after a few times in the city's most shallow public pool, I noticed lots of blossoming independence. One of my daughters especially found her courage (and finally the right goggle setting) and with one hand plugging her nose she began going under water!! What an exciting process to behold her finding her way from quick dunks to one handed doggy paddles (other hand still on the nose) and even to watch her turn somersaults! My other daughter, a fairly cautious and prepared being, was happy for her sister but still unsure of making waves. Instead she preferred making friends and bobbing alongside her sister for most the summer, though I could tell she was pining to find her bravery. This more careful child reminds me of myself quite often. A comparison I hesitate to make out loud, but I am sure all parents can relate. She is not me. And yet our similarities of preference reveal to me my golden nature again and again. What I mean is that I've often stood with judgement against myself for seeing what others did so freely, so quickly, so boldly and felt the twinge of longing to join in get lost underneath my fear. Needless to say it often left me with a sense of being inadequate or even broken. So it's not a big surprise that when I saw my careful child hesitating, it conjured a faint familiar worry. Still I believed the best for her, “She can't do it yet and that's ok. ” and I would pause with that, imaging time and maturity would be on her side and someday she would find her way under water. I didn't push her andshe never mentioned it. We were both seemingly content about it. So it came as quite a surprise when this week, with a good two weeks left to enjoy the public pool before school starts, that the most beautiful solution arrived. That solution being (best announcer voice for this)... giant nose covering goggles...!! I know, it's pretty exciting. As luck would have it, we swam with a different family this week and they came armed with a decked out pool bag which included dozens. of. goggles. Fat ones, skinny ones, mirrored ones, and life changing ones that ensure your water in the nose problem is indeed a minimal worry at best. My never-been-underwater child was overcome with boldness as she slipped on the mask, jumped into the pool and transformed into a curious, happy, below the surface swimmer. I was astonished. I'd been rather oblivious to the abundance of goggle options, and perhaps even more oblivious to the real truth of things. How small it seemed now that I had ever worried, ever been even passively worried about my daughter's ability. And how small Id been to think that of myself for so long. It's never the person who is broken. It's the perception and the unawareness of resources that keeps us on the sidelines. Likewise if we know who we are (good, whole,creative, loving, capable) the solutions and possibilities are endless. My clients often come to me with a deeply hidden worry that something within them might be “wrong” or “broken”. I offer counseling sessions where clients begin working with inner parts, containment, becoming aware of feelings as trustworthy body sensations, using bilateral brain stimulation techniques accepting life as a mirror and letting go of thoughts that hurt so they can discover their own deep pool of personal and spiritual resources within. I share my professional resources so my clients have enough light to see their own. Let's work together! I offer sessions in person and over the phone. Purchase a package in 1 and 3 month options. I look forward to creating a relationship with you and supporting you as you discover all the places in you that are not wounded or broken at all. Not even a little. Wanting more from me? Check out my upcoming workshop! The Magic Of Being Present will reveal a new way of looking at the world. One that includes more choices and prowess as opposed to running the emotional treadmill of blame and shame. Sign up a friend and get your seat *FREE*!! Also, tickets include a free follow up individual session with me. If your heart is poking you right now then that's a sign that this workshop is what you've been asking for. Get a seat today! |