Face everything and avoid nothing

The northern hemisphere is finally coming out of winter and into spring and this always prompts me to reflect on what’s working and what’s not working in my life. Maybe you feel a similar desire or pull? Having recently come back from a retreat in the US with Andrew Cohen, the phrase ‘face everything and avoid nothing’ is ringing in my head and I wanted to share my thoughts on that with you, as a point of exploration for you in this coming year.

‘Face everything and avoid nothing’ sounded a bit harsh to me when I first heard it. Surely not everything? There are some things that are best left alone? This can be the message we get from the new age or self help movement, ‘focus completely on the positive and ignore everything else’. This, it seems to me, is just not realistic. In order for us to truly transform and develop ourselves we also need to take a look at what’s underneath our positivity.

My confession, what I found when I looked into the corners of my mind, is that I have been shying away from fully taking responsibility for what I am up to in the world. My belief is that we need a shift in thinking, a shift in the values we hold dear in the world in order for us to move forward as a species in a sustainable way. My clients ask for this; we recognise that what’s important to us as people is not necessarily the same as what is deemed important to our company or our government. My purpose in life is to be part of this necessary shift, to help people, one at a time, shift from a life where their values are squashed, to one where they can authentically speak about what moves them. These drivers are usually things like integrity, love, relationship and joy, not really how much money is in the bank. Of course we do need some money to live and it’s a kind of avoidance to think otherwise but as one client said to me recently ‘I met my financial goal, so what?’

I’m avoiding fully and clearly speaking up for this because I am scared that potential clients will think I am barking mad, my business will fail and I will be out on the street. I saw that not only this is a load of rubbish, even if it were true, it is a risk worth taking because if I am not saying it, I am not being authentic and I can’t serve my clients at all. This is who I am and the peace and strength that comes from just recognising it and writing it in this mail to over 1100 people around the world is astounding!

Exploration: What are you avoiding owning? What really drives you? What are you up to in the world? Thinking about and declaring this is more important that you realise, it’s the foundation on which your life is built on.