Time to Realign
Look back before you look ahead
Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to new subscribers.
I took most of December off from the newsletter, being much occupied with my Zen Center work, then travel back East to spend a week with my parents, then two weeks of holiday with my extended family, during which I was intermittently ill with one of these viruses that used to take three days to expire and now take three weeks.
Six kids, three dogs, two ferrets, one cat, plus me and Aria made for 14 sentient beings co-existing in one house. There was a lot of love and connection every day…. and I can also confirm the old adage, “if you think you are enlightened, spend a week with your family”!
Being reminded daily how unenlightened I am is a profound gift. It’s a humbling release from the voice in my head that insists that I must always do more, relate more deeply, be better.
Actually, it’s all a mess, and will continue to be. Despite the inner voice we all hear, there is never a mandate to reach some peak level of virtue. Or in our “workist” culture — where accomplishment takes the place of spiritual development — peak levels of productivity and success.
Sometimes, the call for New Year’s Resolutions partakes of this spirit, which I why I am not drawn to make them.
Instead of looking ahead with the mind of “improvement.” I prefer to set big and broad intentions: specifically, to become wiser and to act more compassionately.
In looking back on last year, I am inclined to adopt a mind of inquiry, to understand what unfolded both around and within me. I am curious about what wisdom unfolded last year. Did I participate in the wisdom unfolding, or did I fight it?
Last year was a big year for me and my family.
On the professional front, I established my Executive Zen Coaching as a thriving service, with 6-12 coaching clients at any given time. I was privileged to support over 30 people in honest life reviews, and powerful personal/professional emergences.
More dramatically, my family underwent several profound shocks which evolved as deep karmic healings. I am quite in awe of the profound karmic unfolding that happened.
Looking back, I see the perfect wisdom that unfolded over the year, how I was called to constantly re-align my personal contracts with Self, Others and Work. Recognizing that over the middle four months of the year my commitment to my wife and stepkids took highest precedence as her generational traumas were healed, I put my personal practice (Self) and professional development (Work) on the back burners.
When I was in the midst of it, I did not always grasp the magnitude of what was happening. But because my mindset and intentions were (are always) focused on my three areas of Vow, I kind of had a sense of where to lean in and where to back off.
It’s like riding a bike. When your wheels are aligned, you can adapt to the terrain.
Helping others align their dimensions of Being (Self), Relating (Others) and Doing (Work) is the heart of my work, because I know when they are aligned there is no challenge too big, no end to opportunities to grow, thrive, and deeply enjoy this life trip we're on, whatever happens.
As I begin 2025, I'll be extending my one-on-one coaching, which remains the heart of my professional work, while adding in several additional offerings, including a premium tier to this newsletter, a Men's Group, a mental wellness subscription service customized specifically for Lawyers, and (believe it or not) an AI consultancy. I'll be sharing more on all of these offerings in the weeks ahead.
As we start the year, I am offering a one-month (re)alignment program, to help you get the year started with the clarity of deep intentions. If you do not have a good handle on how your life's wisdom unfolded last year, then that is a good place for us to start. There is meaning in everything that happens. We will unpack your karmic unfoldings together as a baseline for what you would like in 2025: who you want to be, how you want to relate, and what you are called to do. I am confident that these four sessions will give you deep insight into your life, and set you up to thrive personally and professionally in 2025.
I have a sliding scale fee for this One-Month (Re)Alignment. If you are interested in this one-month program offer, just send me a note via my Discovery form, and we will set something up.
To beginning again, together,
Paul
Image by Dee from Pixabay