Is Life Coaching For Anyone?

Guest Post By: Belinda Ryan

One evening as I was folding laundry, my 5 year old son hopped onto the bed, drew close to me, and whispered in my ear, “while you took a nap today I did something dangerous in the living room”.

As you might imagine the “mothering alarm bells” went off full blast. Images of matches and heights danced unbidden through my mind. But it was a mischievous grin and twinkling eyes that marked his face. So I took a breath to pause, and said gently above the fearful ringing in my ears, “hmmmm…what was it you did; in the living room? Would you like to share?”

His smile grew broader. His eyes bright, he hunched down conspiratorially and asked “promise you won’t tell?” I agreed, hoping it didn’t involve any of the family pets and knives. He came so close I could feel his breath tickling my ear. Trying not to laugh, I waited until in a whisper so low I barely caught the words, he said, “I was singing to myself”.

This may well go down as the moment I most exercised self control, as I stifled the laugh that threatened to break free and with equal dramatic flare in my face and voice, leaned back to him and said, “Really? Tell me about it.”

What ensued was an animated and delightful conversation about the value of bursting into spontaneous song.  Being the ever practical mom, I did gently offer, “you know the rules I have about furniture and pets, water, fire and heights, are for the safety of everyone in the house?” My son rolled his eyes and said affectedly, “Mom, I know what really dangerous things are. I would never do any of those things.”

“Wow”, I thought. Five years old. Knows the difference between fantasy and reality and isn’t afraid to play with the concepts.

So I encourage you, whatever your age, to allow yourself to play with the “concepts”. Do something “dangerous”. Dance naked, burst into song, pretend to be someone you admire for just awhile, dress up silly, laugh for no reason, talk to the trees. Who knows…someone, maybe the Universe, will join you in a myriad of ways not yet imaginable!

Belinda Ryan, MSC is a (happily) single, divorced mother of two, graphic artist and author of the book For Better or Worse: How One Woman Used Divorce as a Catalyst for Personal Happiness and Fulfillment and How You Can Too © Belinda Ryan 2002