"All that I am is ENOUGH
All that I can be is AMAZING
All that I will have is JOY"
Adeline Willis, participant on BOLDER Learning Programme April – July 2021
A BOLDER Shout out to YOU!
As I check out for a LONG summer break, before I move into a new phase of my life, I wanted to catch my breath, reflect on all the learning and growth I have witnessed in the BOLDER learning community.
This is my letter of love, to each and every one of you.
I will acknowledge all the wonderful people I have worked with during these Tumultuous times, almost 40 brilliant humans all in all, since March 2020, in both 1:1 Coaching and in the BOLDER Learning programmes.
Wow! What an amazing amount of growth I have witnessed.
And for all of us, the world over, since March 2020, 16 MONTHS! we have lived through the most challenging of times.
There has been heart breaking loss, constant change, uncertainty, old systems dying out and that has involved the most brutal of fights… the old system is still fighting tooth and nail.
I see it every week. Enforcement of regression to controlling us as Subjects, Consumers and then the collective challenge, voices shouting out for justice and equality.
I celebrate with you; the emergence of NOPE! “That is not good enough for me anymore” (Bridget Jones uttering those words to Daniel Cleaver, anyone?!.... happening on many collective levels now!)
Because I hear you, I see you, inside and outside this community; Nope I will not be a slave to work and living life at an unsustainable pace. I will not be trapped by money that I never have anytime to fully enjoy. NOPE! to being disconnected.
YES to making changes to allow me to live a fulfilling life; YES to making my long time dreams and ideas a reality.
Positive Change IS happening. When you’re exhausted from the constant change happening…. From COVID; so weary of it! It’s hard to feel like there is anything positive happening in the world at all.
Positive change is happening, I promise you!
Just last week there was an outpouring of love, challenge and support following the most awful hate. Vile racist abuse of three wonderful young Black men after the Euro Final.
Tories challenging Tories about the need to cease the vile and hate inciting culture wars and about what taking the knee actually means.
Of course, a lot more positive and sustainable change is needed to tackle our world problems. Because, not forgetting in the week that the outpouring of love happened, the Houses of Parliament voted to push through a Bill to significantly reduce Foreign Aid.
I wholeheartedly believe that we are living in THE decade of change…. And you, yes YOU, part of the BOLDER community, I know YOU are here to play your part.
So, take good care of yourself and your energy, because we need to keep on using our powerful voices to make positive change happen.
ACKNOWLEDING YOU
Here are all the things I want to acknowledge YOU for;
YOUR COURAGE
· To make the investment in your learning and growth.
· To commit to the process of change
· To explore the changes you’re longing to make
· To be vulnerable … to voice and sit with your discomfort. That is where the powerful shifts of transformation really happen.
· To accept the authentic you… to let the old stories and images of success go. To accept who you truly are and all that’s possible when you let yourself have it.
· The heart breaking loss that some of you have experienced
· The illnesses that some of you have endured and survived
· The changes you’ve made to live healthier life’s.
· The BOLD action I have seen you taking… to experiment, to find your voice, to speak your truth, to make the changes to enable you to live the fulfilling life you deserve
YOUR STRENGTH
· Let us remember that we’re still living through a Global Pandemic. It’s taken a lot of strength to just get through that! Working from home, home schooling, missing our loved ones, loneliness and isolation
· Collective COVID burnout…..protect your energy and take care of yourself to keep your strength for all that lies ahead. Rest. Recover. Reenergise.
CELEBRATING YOU
All the things I want to celebrate in YOU are:
· Your wonderful creativity and playfulness and ALL the possibilities that has opened up for you.
· The laughter we’ve shared in our sessions…. It makes me smile just thinking about it!
· The shifts you’ve had when you’ve let go of the old stories, hurts and the attached emotions, that you have processed.
· NO, not that! That’s not who I am and that’s not what I want!
· YES, to BEING and DOING all the things you want to let you HAVE; the fulfilment you deserve
· All the wonderful communities, businesses and art that YOU create
· All the positive impact YOU are making
ACKNOWLEDGING & CELEBRATING…. Me!
Cue, my own shitty committee as I type this! “You, it’s not about you!”
I could not guide and Coach you to be BOLDER in your confidence, creativity and impact if I don’t do that work myself, now, could I?!
In March 2020 as the Lockdown 1:0 was announced I watched in horror as one by one, pretty much all, my clients cancelled their Coaching with me.
“I’ve lost it all” I wailed! “Everything I’ve worked for has gone!” as the reality of what we were facing, here on planet earth, started to seep in.
Of course, I hadn’t lost it all! All I had lost was my work, temporarily. I have my family, friends, a roof over my head and food in the house (We’ve still got a LOT of tins of chickpeas in our ration cupboard under the stairs!)
After I surrendered to this bloody Global Pandemic and stopped trying to fight what was happening, slowly, but surely new clients started coming to me.
A few of you, I have coached from my bedroom, whilst my naked children came in and bounced on the bed!
I used the early part of this Lockdown 1:0 to learn and explore what was possible to adapt to these new times…. It’s absolutely the key to any businesses survival.
From that came BOLDER; an online learning community. Instead of the in person based one I was planning to go with, after a successful group coaching experiment, with some wonderful women, the previous year.
And, as much as I miss being in the room with other people; Zoom has allowed me to reach people much further afield and increase the reach of this community.
My heart and soul was filled with joy when people started contacting me, saying
“I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to go back to the way it was before. It’s now or never! I want to use this time to make the changes”
Meanwhile, from February 2020 until May, of this year, I have been going through my own transformation.
At the age of 45 I learned; I became aware, that Autism lives in me. My whole world, my whole understanding of who I am was being replayed through an entirely new lens.
This had a HUGE impact on me…. I really thought I knew who I was!
And, of course, I am still pretty much the same person, now with more insight. I understand now why I find some things exhausting and challenging.
So, I am acknowledging that transformation. Because I fully accept all the wonderful things about my Autism and I accept I am an Autistic woman and that is pretty magical!
A BIG part of that acceptance and transformation happened for me through my writing.
Writing is a wonderful expression of creativity for me and I find it such a brilliant way to make sense of things.
I also want to acknowledge that my love, my lovely Husband is living with a serious illness; all of which became apparent just before lockdown 1:0! At times its been terrifying. With a big medical intervention he will get better. He will be well again.
The allure of taking an escape route, into work I love, has been a great one! Working with you brilliant humans is hugely rewarding; seeing all the wonderful transformations happen for you is such a joy.
Of course, I am not a robot, I am of course human and I do not have a finite amount of energy! Although, my Hyper Achieving saboteur would have me and you believe otherwise!
I am acknowledging I have burnt myself out. And I know taking time to rest, recover and re-energise myself will resolve this.
I share this with you because I want you to consider yourself in this.
A big allure for all of us in the Before Covid world was tying ourselves up in showing our success through our busyness, efficiency and resilience.
As a classic Gen X’er I will always need to keep an eye on this…..it’s not about how much time you’ve got….. it’s about how much energy you have!
And so, that brings me onto what I am celebrating.
I want to be a Writer.
I want to write about being a Funny Girl….. a name I have been fondly called from an early age.
I want to write about what helped me get from awareness of my Autism to acceptance that I am Autistic.
The amount of support and learning difference each Autistic person experiences is induvial and unique.
From my lived experience, I want to inform and inspire people about Autism and how we can live limitless life’s with it.
I have. Quite by accident, I have designed a life that is unlimited by Autism.
I want to use my voice to shout about the impact that lack of awareness and acceptance has. The inaccessibility of support for many with Autism has a damaging affect to them.
I want to impact positive changes that needs to be made in health and education to ensure that more Autistic people live unlimited life’s.
I also want to continue to coach and guide learning communities to help you be BOLDER in your confidence, creativity and impact.
I have redesigned my working life to honour both of these things.
From September 2021 I will spend 2 days a week being a Writer and 2 days a week being a Coach.
If you’re interested in being part of a BOLDER learning programme or one to one Coaching with me; Register your interest on my website. Grab your spot! Places will be limited.
Wise Words
I want to leave you with some wise words.
In the most recent BOLDER learning programme, a truly wonderful participant, Adeline Willis, shared what she is claiming for herself:
(I urge you to read this inspiring rallying call to action from Addy on a blog she posted in March 2021:
All that I am is ENOUGH
All that I can be is AMAZING
All that I will have is JOY
With Addy’s permission I am sharing this with you; because in all that wonderful wisdom I recognise that this is exactly what this BOLDER community is all about.
I want you to know that YOU are ENOUGH, YOU are AMAZING and YOU will have JOY when you live a life that is truly aligned to what matters most to YOU.
With Much Love
xxx Andrea xxx