Scars Of Our Storms | Stability | Always Remember
Hello there! Welcome to my weekly LEAPS.
You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly Wednesday feature or our mailing list. Every Wednesday, I share 5 things using our LEAPS approach:
Learn: something new or an idea
Energy: an energy (good or bad) word and it’s meaning
Action: something to do
Processing: a question to consider
Shout out: something or someone that I want to celebrate or acknowledge
LEARN
Something Worth Sharing
Scars Of Our Storms
Having recently read ‘Always Remember’ by Charlie Mackesy, I’ve been focusing some attention on resilience. In the book, Charlie sets the tale of his characters against a backdrop of a storm. One of the interesting things about this was his framing of ‘storm’ as the physical storm, but also of the storms we can endure within us. Throughout my life and work, I can certainly think of numerous storms - both emotional and practical ones. Resilience is about how we respond and reshape following such storms.
I recall running workshops with a wonderful man who used to use a squishy ‘stress’ ball to demonstrate resilience to the room. As he squeezed the stress ball and then let go, you would see the ball return to its original state. However, I feel very strongly that we never return to the exact same shape - or state - that we held before the storm struck. What’s more, I am grateful that we don’t return to what we were before.
The scars of our storms demonstrate our courage, our learnings, our discovered empathy and most importantly - our growth. While many of the hardships that accompany the storms of life are deeply painful, the scars show that we survived. The willingness to show our scars and to be vulnerable - to share the stories of them - is a sign of strength and means that each storm had value for us.
Denying the ‘scars of our storms’ is the same as denying a storm even happened and that we overcame it. True resilience is about accepting our history and using the lessons from storms to move forward and enjoy the sunshine.
ENERGY
An emotion or energy; a stand-out word / s
Stability
Stability is a word I’ve heard people talking about recently, especially in terms of knowing what’s ahead. The word is from Latin STABILIS meaning "steadfast, firm".
The notion is "ability to remain in some condition or position in spite of influences". I found this quite interesting given that we can never remain exactly the same following impact, experience and influence. We need to evolve, learn, and grow.
ACTION
Something small that you can do that might make a big difference
Write a Note
Whether it’s a Post-It note, a napkin in a restaurant or postcard, write something lovely to someone and leave it (or send it in the post) for them.
PROCESSING
A question to think about and consider (you can discuss this with someone or write your thoughts down)
“When have you tuned into your instinct well— and when have you ignored it?”
Instinct is such a wonderful gift of nature - the ability to feel whether something is right or wrong for you. Consider when you’ve been completely tuned into your instinct and listened to it, allowing you to take action. Also consider when you haven’t listen to it - and perhaps regretted that.
I’d love for you to send me your own stories / thoughts about this. Drop me a line with your answer / thoughts on this question
SHOUT OUT
Who / what I think deserves recognition - my gratitude or to be celebrated.
Finding A Missing Item
This is a big shout out! The feeling of finding something that you’d almost given up on. We’ve been clearing out a few cupboards recently and found a couple of minor things that I really thought had gone for good. Shout out to finding them!
BONUS GIFT FOR YOU
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LEAPS is a process used by our team and clients all the time - and even my own family on a daily basis.
I’ll be sharing a set of LEAPS each week with you and encourage you to do your own version:
L: what have you learned?
E: what’s your energy / feeling word
A: what’s one thing you need to do?
P: what are you thinking / processing?
S: who or what can you shout out?
