Everything Connects

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

When I decided to become a life coach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin it was clear to me that I needed to become not just a life coach, but a holistic life coach. Why? Because I’ve always believed that every aspect of life truly does affect all others.

Think about it a moment. If you are trying to get in shape but find yourself working long hours, juggling family life and other important commitments, I’m willing to bet that the exercise plan is going to fail pretty quickly. Even with the best of intentions, unless you find a way to prioritize your life, delegate a few things and generally find some balance you are not going to see much progress.

This makes plain and simple sense to me. I’ve been married for a couple of million years, raised a family while trying to keep up with work, extended family, school projects for three boys, Boy Scout activities, sports, etc. You get the idea. I know very well that when I was too overwhelmed in one area another would surely suffer. Just the facts of life, that ripple effect that we all know too well. I found out very early that I was the person who wanted to be involved in all activities. Great intentions, but when I spread myself too thin I wasn’t able to be effective or helpful to others. So, I needed to find balance, again and again. That’s a holistic point of view. I had options and choices; these were reevaluated on a continual basis. Did I get it all right? Nope. But I always learned something and looking back I’m very grateful for those lessons.

I continue to try to find balance in my life. Between career, family, social life, fitness, spiritual life, etc. All are important to me and the balance changes constantly. Sometimes I achieve that balance, sometimes I’m a bit off. That’s alright, the process continues.

So, Milwaukee holistic life coach, yep that’s me. I’m always going to ask others to view their life as a whole, not just bits and pieces.

Wishing you a fabulous day as you find the balance in your life,

Warmly,
Sandy

Together

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

It’s been a long time since my entire family was together for Christmas. Our eldest son left for the Air Force right after high school and spent most of the next six Christmas holidays in far away places. One of our other sons enjoys traveling and he spent last Christmas far away in a much warmer location. This year they are all home, along with our beautiful new daughter-in-law. We are very grateful.

As a life coach I spend a lot of my time trying to help others see that there are always two ways of looking at every situation. We have been very grateful for the past several years that everyone was healthy and happy, focusing on the amazing blessings in our lives and enjoying the emails and phone calls that we shared, even when we were not together.

I realize that it is very likely that next year we will be spending the holiday season in different locations. One of our boys is probably going to be moving south (he is so not a fan of the cold Wisconsin weather) another is probably going to relocate to another state for his job. That means that the third will probably get a bit more attention than he would like, but he’s a good sport and I think he can handle it.

What all of this means is that like everyone, we discover again and again that life is about change. We are determined to relax and enjoy having each other this year. Visiting with grandparents, aunts and uncles we appreciate all of the blessings that we often take for granted. We don’t know what the next year will bring, except that we can be pretty certain it will be somewhat different than this season. Some of us may be together, some may be far away. I feel sure that we will still find ways to stay close, and being located in other parts of the country gives us all good reason to take vacation. For our family even when we are separated by many miles, we still know that we are connected by love and genuine affection.

I encourage you to contact and connect with family and friends. If they are nearby terrific! If they are far away you can still be together. Phone calls, emails, cards and letters still connect us in powerful ways. We don’t have to be related to those we love, friends often become our family. This is a wonderful season to reach out to all those we care about and to let them know how we feel about them. Every time we do share that affection we feel a little bit better about our own lives and what friend or family member doesn’t want to know they are loved. The life coach in me loves that! It’s a win-win all around.

So, for this holiday season I wish you the fabulous feeling of knowing that you care about someone and that they care about you in return.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, happy holidays to all of you my friends,
Sandy

Snow!

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

It’s winter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Not officially of course. According to the calendar, winter won’t begin for a few more days. But it turns out that Jack Frost has decided to do things his way. Last night we received approximately another foot or so of snow and there is more to come over the next few days.

Not everyone is a fan of the snow, especially not this much snow this early in the year. But I am! I love the snow. My only complaint is that this was not snowman snow. I know that for sure, I tried and tried to build a snowman, but it just didn’t pack right. Something about a fresh snowfall brings out the 4 year old that lives deep inside of me. I can’t wait to go out in the snow and play. I like to kick it around, make snow angels, build snowmen, taste it (only the snow that is white) and watch it for hours and hours. I don’t even mind shoveling the snow.

Why? To me I think that snow represents so many good things. First of all it represents change of course. I really enjoy the change of seasons in Milwaukee, it’s beautiful. To my mind change is very exciting! It means that anything can happen and I always assume that means something wonderful. But most of all, I think that snow brings wonderful memories back to me.

When I was growing up, a good snowstorm meant that my dad would load us all up in the car along with the toboggan. We’d head to Whitnall Park; they had the very best sledding hill in the area. My dad would pile all of us kids on the toboggan and then he’d jump on just as we were headed down the hill. We would fly! Sometimes when it was time to climb up that very tall, slippery hill we would jump back on and get pulled right back up. Ice skating, sledding, snowmobiling, building snow forts and having snowball fights. When I think about it, snow meant fun, fun, fun! When we were all tired out, my mom would make us hot chocolate and wrap us in warm blankets.

As a life coach sometimes I think that there should be a deeper message in everything. If that’s so, then the message this week is very simple. Enjoy. Enjoy the changes that are inevitable. Enjoy the memories and enjoy building new memories. That’s it. It’s just that simple.

Wishing you a fabulous day, just like I remember when I was a kid.

Warmly,
Sandy

Be a Kid Again

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

It turns out that our kids are always teaching us lessons. All three are grown and in fact the eldest is married. Each of them has been on their own since he was eighteen years old, they have responsible jobs, and if you would meet any of them one on one you would have an impression of average young men. But when they are all together, they resume the roles they had when they were all less than 10 years old. It’s a hoot!

My husband and I joined them at our place at the lake yesterday, the place where everyone can just completely relax and have fun. As soon as they heard us arrive, I heard one of them call out ‘Indy’s here!’ Yes, they really were more excited to see the dog than their Dad and me, that’s okay; he was incredibly, silly happy to see all of his kids too.

As soon as we got in the house the stories began. Each one upping the ante just a bit when it came his turn to get a word in edgewise. For some reason the lampshades were all slightly askew and I actually asked how in the world lampshades on standing lamps got knocked awry. Silly me. It didn’t take long for the story-telling and needling each other to move on to a bit of ‘nudging’ one another as they walked around. Oh yeah, that’s how the lampshades get in that condition! How in the world had I forgotten? They teased one another and had the dog running from one to the other for what seemed like forever. In short, they all acted like they were little boys again.

Two of them took Indy for a walk so that Indy could see the beautiful Wisconsin autumn. When they returned, another enticed Indy into a game of chase. They ran up and down the hill, hiding and then pouncing when the other came into view. The third boy was hanging out with his Dad, puttering with the boat as they got ready to put it away for the winter. Too much chattering and laughing was heard for it to have been efficient, but they got the job done.

Later they ‘discovered’ the games that have been on the shelf in the family room for the four years that we have been here. I heard one yell ‘We have Battleship and Scrabble!’ the others came running. From there on I heard good-natured accusations of cheating, shouts of surprise and not just laughing, but giggling as they tried to out-smart each other. No one was exempt, the daughter-in-law was in the middle of it all and even my husband was trying to make up words for Scrabble.

I want to thank all four of our kids (yes, we consider our beautiful daughter-in-law to be one of our kids now) for reminding us to relax, let go and have fun. They are all responsible adults in their day jobs, but when they are together they remember to enjoy each other and laugh. Simply laugh. Once again, I’ve been reminded that most of us have amazing life coaches in our lives; we just need to look around and pay a bit of attention.

So just for today, I suggest that you take a trip down memory lane. Try to remember that fabulous feeling of laughing and giggling. Remember the mud smooshing through your toes on a warm spring day, the feeling of flying a kite, playing in a leaf pile or making a snowman. Whatever it is that makes you feel like a happy kid again. Please take a few minutes, close your eyes and try to recall. Let yourself feel the happiness, the smooshy mud, the cool breeze, the warmth of sun on your face as you lay in the grass and watched clouds float by. And don’t forget to allow yourself to chuckle, grin, laugh and giggle.

I wish you a fabulous day recalling happy memories and making new memories to recall in the future.

With warmth,
Sandy

This Life Coach Needs People!

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

I’m a pretty social person, my husband…not so much. Now he’s a great guy and he enjoys being with family and

My five favorite guys, good reasons for me to keep in contact.

friends, but frankly he gets pretty much all of his social needs met by spending time with our grown kids, the occasional outing with friends and spending those 24 hour shifts with ‘the guys’ at the firehouse.

As for me, I need people! I need to work, see, talk to, play with and generally interact with many more people. Much of my daily life is handled on the telephone, and while I appreciate and enjoy this very much, I also have an absolute need to spend time being in the actual physical proximity of other people.

So, I do a couple of things. I attend business networking groups, I’ve joined a book club (I love to read!), I take my dog for lots of walks or to the dog park where I am sure to meet people with similar interests. I go to Curves, a gym for women, it’s chatty and friendly, and I get to fit in the dreaded work-out while I’m having a great time getting to know the other women. Having lunch or seeing a movie with a dear friend is always fun. It’s not unusual at all for me to call a friend or one of my boys to invite them to just come over and hang out; we might have a meal together or simply enjoy a glass of wine outside by the fire.

Years ago, this was a bit more difficult for me. My husband works as a firefighter and that often meant that he was gone. Most of the time I appreciate and enjoy my alone time, but sometimes I need that social contact. For me that meant getting involved in…oh, so many things. When my boys were younger, I not only took them to Scouts, I got very involved. It was a great way to get to know the other boys and their families that my boys were interacting with. And it was fun being a leader for so many years. The same with school, I participated in many activities. As my sons got older my social activities revolved around them less and less. Yahoo! It was time for me to be a grown up again. It’s been terrific finding my own interests and participating in things that I truly enjoy.

Now, keep in mind I mentioned earlier that my husband would rather spend most of his time with me. That’s fine! When he’s around I spend a great deal of time with him, he compromises by doing a few social activities with me and I compromise by doing most of my socializing during his work days. Of course I do spend some time doing my own thing when he’s home, but with each of us doing just a bit of bending it works very well.

So, the life coach in me wants to turn this into a lesson. You didn’t think I was just rambling on did you? Early on I discovered that I had much more need for social outlets than my sweet husband. We talked about it and decided that the most positive and satisfying way to work this out was just the solution I have already described. That was the action part, in case you missed it. There’s no way that my husband can fulfill all of my social needs and for me to drag him everywhere would make both of us miserable. So, our solution is a positive for both of us.

Wishing you the fabulous joys of as much or as little social activity as is right for you.

Warmly,
Sandy

Friends

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

I am blessed to have wonderful friends. Some are actually family (yes, it’s okay to be friends with family! lol). I still have some friends from grade school that I only see or have the opportunity to get together with once every few years. When we get together it’s as though we are still kids, hanging out during the Wisconsin winter and finding so much to do to keep ourselves busy. Other friends are of more recent acquaintance, some I’ve known for 20 years and others less than a year. Yet I find that every year they are more and more precious to me.

From the life coaching point of view I’ve come to realize that it makes sense to have such a broad range of friends. Each friend or group of friends has come to be very special to me and has supported me at different times in my life, I never want to forget or stop appreciating that love and support.

The friends of my childhood and teenage years know a Sandy that has grown and changed in amazing ways. Who would have ever thought that the quick tempered rather shy girl would have become a life coach? And these friends have grown and changed as well, when we get together we reminisce and appreciate the qualities that drew us together long ago, all over again.

Some very important friends were people that I came to know when I was raising my children. Most of them were also raising kids; some of us had our boys in Scouts together, shared church activities, sports, etc. Our kids and these activities gave us a strong connection and some of these friendships have become much more back-burner since the kids have all grown. They’re still very important and the fondness I have for them hasn’t dwindled, I simply see them much less often. They kept me sane through the child-rearing years and for that I’ll always have a special place for them in my heart.

I have gardening buddies. They share my love of puttering in the dirt. We share plants, plans for our yards, frustrations with lack or excess of water, sun, etc. These amazing people all make me feel very optimistic; they are all looking forward to a better, more beautiful tomorrow.

Some of my more recent friends share my personal interests much more than the interests of my husband and children. It makes sense, my boys have grown, my husband has his own interests and I’m now making friends much like those of my childhood, are much more tuned in to my personality, hobbies and interests. It’s very exciting!

All in all I would like to thank my friends, new and old. Each one of you has loved and supported me in ways that you probably are not even aware of. In many ways, each of you has been a wonderful life coach, you have taught me, motivated me and pushed me to grow. I thank each and every one of you for being my friend.

I wish you a day filled with love and support from fabulous friends.

Warmly,
Sandy

Life Coaches‚ with Wings!

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Here in Wisconsin, we live with some amazing little life coaches, otherwise known as hummingbirds. These tiny birds go about their business of collecting nectar with determination and the sure knowledge that they will succeed.

Their amazingly fast wings beat so quickly that it sounds as if they have tiny little motors. I’m almost hypnotized when I watch them darting from feeder to feeder as these beautiful little birds chase off intruders. They are surprisingly territorial!

Yesterday I was out in the yard, nowhere near the hummingbird feeders. Suddenly I heard that little motor sound (hummingbird wings beating fiercely) I looked up and here was a hummingbird approaching me and backing away again, it did this a few times. I may have looked a bit silly to the neighbors, as I couldn’t do a thing but stand outside and laugh. Wearing a bright fuchsia shirt I must have looked like a big flower to this enthusiastic, determined little bird.

Very quickly the intelligent tiny bird revised his strategy. He had learned that the intended goal had no hope of success, so he immediately altered his strategy. Making a good decision, he flew over to plants that would yield nectar.

This tiny bird made positive changes in his goal immediately. A wonderful lesson! When something isn’t working, determine why it’s not working. If there is no hope of achieving the desired result, then move on to a plan of action that has more likelihood of success.

Just as important to me, this beautiful bird made me smile.

I encourage you to look around you today, find someone or something who inspires you, teaches you in a positive way and makes you smile at the same time.

Here’s hoping that you will find something fabulous to make you smile all day today!

Warmly,
Sandy