I was celebrating Hump Day today and catching up on my Social Media when I came across a very sad post from my colleague Mary Corbett Coaching. Her mum had passed away, and she had the intuition to accept the thoughts and challenges that came up for her during that difficult week. She wrote an inspiring letter and mentioned it on Facebook. I clicked the link curious and compassionate and was wowed by her ability to challenge the reader during what was a very personal journey. I travelled this journey with her, reading her post and share it with you here.
It got me thinking (again) about what we wish to be remembered by – how we would want our Eulogy to resonate, and I realised I am not living all my values for the past few weeks. I have recently discovered doodling for the sake of doodling, thanks to Roisin Markham during her fantastic workshop “Creativity in a Coaching Context” last month.
I immediately chose markers and pencils at random and wrote the headings as Mary challenged them. Hard Work! Here they are, what would you write for each?
Take just 10 minutes now or later and write them down, using different colours, being at one with the visual as well as the text. For each heading, write how you want to be remembered.
Keep it short and sweet. It’s amazing what perspective may come up for you…
Compassion
When do you feel compassion?
Where have you shown compassion?
How does it affect others?
Success
What is success to you?
How have you been successful?
Have you helped others to be successful?
Energy
Where does your energy come from?
What energises you most?
How have you passed on energy to others?
Sense of Fun
What is your idea of fun?
How often do you experience this?
How have you shared this with others?
Hard Work
How hard do you work?
Compared to what?
Does it suit your lifestyle and fit in with your value of working?
Could you work less hard, and still be as efficient? How?
Fitness
Do you cherish health?
How do you care for your own health and fitness?
How has this helped others?
Laughter
Do you laugh enough?
Do you laugh with others?
How has it been contagious?
Sense of Style
Do you have your own sense of style?
How does it make you feel?
How does it make others feel?
As you can imagine Elaine, this post really resonates with me and where I am right now. I am sure there is no particular order to your list of 8 things, but nevertheless I am pleased to see compassion listed as no 1, for I believe very much in its transformative power. Yesterday on my blog I took part in a writing challenge on the theme of blogging for mental health, in which i wrote that the greatest gift we have to give each other is our compassion – to let others know they are not alone in their struggles. This is to me is the very essence of humanity.
Marie,
Thank you most sincerely for your comment. It is indeed interesting that compassion if first, and it’s one of the areas I feel I have not prioritised myself recently. We talk a lot about empathy in the coaching world, having experienced similar circumstances, we can empathise with others. And compassion actually goes a step further, as we do not have to have had a similar experience, but merely demonstrate compassion for the sake of allowing the other person space to feel. Feel and express that feeling without judgement or interference.
Elaine,
I love the way ideas bounce and I can already feel my challenge for next week coming on – something to do with the visual. But in the meantime I really love your final line and it is worth repeating – and your greatest gift of all – the present
Hi Mary,
Our thoughts involve the past, our imagination invents the future. For today, I am focusing on mindfulness and the present.
Thank you for that!
And of course, we must thank ourselves for allowing that time out to just BE 🙂