Flying Visits – Food for Thought!
So, I had a wonderful time at the baby shower! I got to surprise the mom to be, meet lots of new people, experience a different culture, be amazed by the number of women with perfect eyebrows, eat wonderful yummy Indian food and delicious spiced tea, catch up with clients turned friends AND experience what it's like to be put on a pedestal…
Whenever I was introduced it was "This is Emma who I've told you so much about…", or a friend or cousin would come over and would be pointing interestedly behind me (supposedly without me seeing) "So, this is the 'famous' Emma – your lifecoach???"
So, as Rav drove me to the ferry I had been busy lecturing her (and no that isn't what lifecoaching is about!) about how she needs to charge more for her services – she runs an event organizing business with the mom-to-be. I had been busy pointing out that she doesn't value what she does enough, that not everyone has the organizational skills and creativity that they have, and that they were under-selling themselves…
Anyhow, we were early (I had checked the timetable this time) so she mentioned that she noticed I had been uncomfortable when she introduced me to people. I confessed I had been. That I felt like they had put me on a pedestal – crediting me with far more than I had actually done as their life-coach. And the problem with pedestals is that it's easy to fall off and get broken. I valued their friendship and was afraid things might change when they found out I was human after all… You see I believe the changes and growth my clients achieve is all their own doing. All I do is give them some one-on-one attention, help them look inside and see who they really are, what they want from life and take action to make it happen.
Well. Right back at me! As our chat progressed, Rav pointed out that perhaps I didn't value what I had done enough! That not everyone has the skills to listen and help people grow, to share new perspectives without telling people how to be, to truly encourage and support and allow people to unfold their own way of being in the world.
So, since then I have been pondering. I want to inspire people to be authentic, to have the life of their dreams, to create their own happiness, to grow spiritually. That's one of the reasons I started this blog – to inspire people to get in touch with their values and do something different with their lives like we have.
But isn't it a bit silly to want to inspire people, and then when people tell me I've done just that, to say "Who me? No. Don't be silly!"
So, that's my project. To become comfortable with being in the spotlight occasionally. To accept a compliment and believe it. To truly believe that I can be an inspiration to others. Because I'm not done with inspiring people just yet! I have PLANS!
To wrap up – I believe WE ALL have the CAPACITY TO INSPIRE OTHERS. Through what we say, do or perhaps simply just by being ourselves. And if I have to get used to it – so can you!