The Importance Of Honoring Endings

 

“Everything has to come to an end, sometime.”

― L. Frank Baum

 

For those of you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that this blog focuses on change, leadership, leading with integrity, and conscious and intentional choice.  It’s always been a way for me to share thoughts and resources from my own experience, and from what I’ve witnessed in the clients I’ve worked with.

 
You’ve always trusted me to say it how it is – part of how I hold integrity for myself personally and in my work has meant being a truth teller.

 
So, some news to share: due to continued and increased health challenges I’m facing, I’ve come to the difficult decision that I will be retiring from my work as a coach, effective June 30.  

 
I learned a few months ago that the cancer I was treated for in 2016 and 2017 has returned and spread.  This means refocusing and re-prioritizing how I am spending my time, giving my full attention to myself (my most important client), my healing, and my family. 

 
By no means has this been an easy decision to make: using my coaching skills with others has been an honor and joy, as well as life-giving and important support and resource to many people. But closing my business is the right decision for me, for now.

 
When clients complete their time in coaching with me, I ask them to respond to a set of questions to help them honor their successes, process their experience, and prepare for what is next beyond coaching.

 
We do this because it is important to honor what is ending: that there is an end. That for now, the work is complete. To put a period on the end of the sentence, so to speak; to close the parentheses; to say goodbye.

 
So as a way to honor this ending, and what this work and business has meant for me, I decided I would share my answers to the closing questions that I use with clients, as we come to completion here:

 

Reviewing your goals, and reflecting back on your experience, what would you like to acknowledge yourself for?  What would you like to celebrate?

 

Over the past 14 years, I’ve been extremely lucky to coach hundreds of individuals one on one, as well as coach and train scores of teams to improve communication, strengthen relationship skills, and build emotional intelligence. I’ve been so honored to witness transformations of all sorts – from subtle to profound – at the individual, team and systems level. My skills in listening, asking powerful questions, using intuition, and holding both safe and brave space for learning and change have been part of those processes. Specifically here, this blog has allowed me to hone my writing skills, and share resources and ideas with many people beyond those I can work with directly.

 

What’s next for you?

 

Beyond taking care of my health and my family, I’ll focusing my remaining time on writing a book about my experience with a life-threatening illness. This book will be a new means for me to support others who are going through transition, change, challenge, and difficulties. The premise of the book is that we will all experience hard times; but we get to decide what we want to do with what happens to us. My goal is to publish this book and then speak, coach and teach around these critical topics with individuals, families and health care systems.

 

What has been useful to you?

 

It’s been an amazing ride – to run my own business, support my family, engage with colleagues, leaders and teams from across the country, and truly feel like I’ve made a difference with so many. As a by-product, I’ve grown as a person, parent, friend, and spouse as a result of my work, and I feel tremendously lucky to have been able to do this work.

 

What could have made this more powerful, farther reaching, better?

 

Not having cancer would have been awesome, but other than that, I can’t think of much.

 

Anything else that you need to express to be complete with the experience?

 

Thanks to every client or colleague who has worked with me, to everyone who has read or followed this blog, and to all those supported me throughout this ride. I couldn’t have done any of it without you, and the trust you have put in me has what allowed me to do what I’ve done. I am humbled, honored and indebted to each one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

Over to you

As I anticipate this being my last post for the time being, what would you like to acknowledge, celebrate or express in order to be complete with this experience?

Photo credit: Hanna Cooper