A Different View

This was the sunrise view from my living room window in October. It’s reflected beautifully in the lake and I can just see a peak of color on the horizon. Every morning upon waking I walk into this room to see what the sky will share with me. It’s never been the same twice, even on these frozen, Minnesota winter days. It’s ever changing and continuously surprising.

So too is life. The way we view the world is constantly in flux. We learn something new that surprises us and our view changes. We stumble upon a new conversation that changes our view. We remember an event that occurred and suddenly the lesson we should have learned long ago is clearer and our view changes.

I have been fortunate in my life to have people enter when I need their views to impact mine. Today I was on a call with DeAnna Murphy, founder of Strengths Strategy, with whom I’ve been studying for over two years. She described failure to those of us on the call that I’ve heard before, yet this time it had a stickiness for me that was new.

“Right now”, DeAnna said, “our world is caught. We value and find worth in others and ourselves for WHAT WE DO. What this means is that when we feel as if we have made a mistake, failed, or find a weakness, we devalue ourselves and what we bring to the world. Our feeling of worth goes up and down like the stock market.” Can you identify? I sure can.

The problem with that view is that we miss untapped possibilities. There is ALWAYS something that can be learned from failure and recognized areas of weakness. Failure cannot happen if one doesn’t try new things. And weaknesses can be minimized by linking with someone who has a strength where you have weakness.

Sometimes the best way to turn failure and weakness into a positive is getting a second opinion. This is only one, of 100’s of ways working with a coach can help. I appreciate the views of all the folks with whom I’ve worked. My life is ever changing, evolving, and I’m becoming more at peace. I hope this for you too.