Who am I? Taking a stand for our own lives

“I declare the possibility that who I am is the stand I take. And the stand I take is…”

Many of us find it easy enough to take a stand on issues out there in the world – abortion, euthanasia, poverty, inequality, religion etc.  But how often do we take a stand for who we are in our own lives?  Twenty-four young adults made the above declaration at the end of a personal development residential in July 2017. They were granting themselves permission to let go of the past and call forth a new way of being. In their statements they used words like ‘powerful’, ‘author of my own life’, ‘forgiving’ and ‘confident’.

The next step is to work with a life coach for nine months to help them grow into their stands.

I similarly made a stand two years ago. I took the stand that:

I am the key to unlocking my own decisions.

I am courageous in this knowledge.

I am insightful.

My voice resonates.

I am compassionate.

I am my word

So how did that work out? Well, during the last two years I have dug deep to find courage in my decision making to get to a happier place. Here’s a summary of some of those decisions:

• The decision to acknowledge symptoms of cancer and take up all treatments available to cure me.
• The decision to leave my job even though I wasn’t sure that I was capable of getting anything else once I’d left and there was a risk I would become unwell again.
• The decision to move in with my partner after five years of being together knowing I was feeling vulnerable and may struggle with the change in living circumstances.
• The decision to make some of these life altering decisions even though I was devastated by grief when my Mum died in September 2016 (and people tell you not to make any big decisions in that state!)

I own all of these decisions and have learned to put expectations on hold. I’ve never felt so vulnerable, yet powerful at the same time.

In making these decisions I’ve also discovered that I am insightful (I was offered a contract based almost exclusively on my insights and values) and I am learning to be more compassionate (to self and others) each day.

So what more? Well, my voice could resonate more. I am a poet and yet I hold myself back from sharing and evolving my work. And at times my word has slipped when my confidence has faltered, or I’ve been more committed to the moment than what I really want in my life or to the relationships I seek to nurture.

I’d also like to add something about my physical presence.

Physically I am not very strong and that’s something that bothers me on a daily basis – it affects my confidence and ability to stand tall. But who am I to say that standing tall is not part of who I am? I just need the integrity to make it happen. So here is my revised stand and the possibility that this is who I can be:

I am the key to unlocking my own decisions

I am courageous in this knowledge

I am the poetic voice of the ordinary yet extraordinary

Fearless and bold

Strong and fierce

Compassionate and gentle

True to my word

And I invite you to take a stand too. Who are you capable of being? How can you give yourself the opportunity to be who you really are, rather than clinging on to what you’ve become?

If you’d like some support figuring out what you’d most like to bring forth into your life then let’s talk. Drop me a line for a free coaching taster.