Life is a Mystery

February 2006

A fabulous quote has been right in front of me all month (on the January page of my 2006 Heron Dance wall calendar) that beautifully captures how I am looking at life and work these days. It is from Phil Cousineau, writer and poet, and it says “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.” I’ve been thinking this month about the wisdom in those words, and what they mean for me.

Being a pretty good problem solver, I tend to look at challenges strategically. It is almost automatic to assess strengths and weaknesses, assets and liabilities, pros and cons. This serves me well in my work as a coach. It is exciting to support you in generating perspectives on, and often solutions to, your workplace problems. It’s a part of my job that I truly enjoy. And, there are myriad problems in running a business, or leading a team, or implementing a change. It would be negligent of us to ignore them. But there are also other ways I look at our work together.

Approaching life as a mystery to be lived brings a whole new lens to my work. It forces me to pull back, up out of the weeds, and take a different view. I put down my tools for a while, and just observe. I can relish the complexity, embrace the unknown. It is sometimes refreshing to cease laboring to find all the answers, especially that ever-elusive one “right” answer. When I can let go of trying to wrestle life (or work) to the ground, I can just step into it with wonder and awe. For me, this brings a new attitude to my work. Instead of only seeing what seems to need fixing or solving, which can keep me so narrowly focused, I can open up to incredible possibilities and myriad new vistas.

Living life as a mystery demands that we approach it with open minds, eyes, and hearts. This is what I desire to bring to my coaching relationship with you. Thank you for the privilege of serving you on many levels, from the mundane to the mysterious.

Sharon
Sharon Keys Seal

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *