As I start my new journey, a journey that I’ve been on for some time now, but yet moving it forward even more. At 57 (almost 58), I’m embarking on a dream that I’ve had since childhood. The avenue of getting there has been long and at times hard but experiences are what can define who we are if we allow them to. They can define us in a negative manner, as Satan would have it, or they can instill in us a passion for the positive, creative and compassionate life. That is the definition that I chose.
As I embark on this journey, I will find truths that tell my story and I will find me in the process. This is one of the truths that tell my story and help to explain who I am becoming.
| The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer |
| It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. by Oriah Mountain Dreamer copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. |
I hope through the journey that I am taking that I will be prepared to take others on that journey for themselves. Finding who they are as they define their experiences & success while also finding Joy. I will continue to journal my journey of becoming a Certified Professional Life & Leadership Coach. If you are interested in following that journey, you can click on FOLLOW in the column to the right. Or if you have questions or would like working with me, you can find me at rhondagouldonline.com under “Contact” or on Facebook @ Rhonda Gould Coaching.
Rhonda Gould Coaching & Consulting 