Laura Lavigne

He is Okay. Really.



Posted: Friday, September 12, 2008

by
TreeHouse Coaching

Last weekend, my son Marco and I were on our way to one of his basketball games. His brother and sister having chosen to stay home, it was one of those rare moments spent one-on-one with him (you know, three kids, only one of me) and I was feeling quietly thankful for it.  Well, quietly on the outside. On the inside, I was very busy. My mind was racing ahead, planning how I was going to create more of this; I could hear myself designing a special “one-on-one" schedule, complete with well planned out dates, the whole thing possibly posted in plain view on our fridge.  My goodness.

It took a couple of minutes before I caught myself, had a good private laugh, took a deep breath and made a strong and conscious effort to just “be". No action required. Just be. The stoplight was red and I did not even have to do anything more than sit. Good.  Within seconds, Marco pointed out to me what seemed to be a homeless man, holding a sign.  As he often does, my son wanted to see “what the sign says", and to do that, he needed me to pull forward a little bit. Which I did.  Well. This was no ordinary sign and reading it presented me with a blend of surprise, chuckle, well-being and inspiration.  I immediately rolled down my window and told the man – who was no more homeless than me nor you – that he had made my day. He answered that this was his whole point and when I asked him if I could take his photograph, he beamed and gave me the thumbs up.

I just know he would be happy to have me share this with you.

I’m ok. I don’t need anything.  I’m ok.  I don’t need anything.

Wow.  How simple. How unglamorous. How … untypical.

I was reminded of how hooked we have become on feeling “FANTASTIC!" or even “JUST AWFUL". Somewhere between a reality show and the evening news, we may have forgotten the sweet bliss of simply being ok; of not needing anything.  The concept, with its lack of call-to-action, seemed strangely unfamiliar and somewhat politically incorrect.  I loved it.  It asked for nothing. It invited no move, no thought, no change.

Ever since that morning, I have made a conscious and somewhat mischievous effort to hunt down these seemingly elusive moments. And you know what? It turns out they are not all that elusive, after all. They are there for us to notice, if we chose to, and they are delicious.  They may only come in one-minute increments or maybe full hours at a time. Moments when nothing more is required from us than to take the next breath.  Moments when we’re ok; moments when we don’t need anything.

To me, they feel like sweet invitations to take our coat off, sit down and stay for a while.  I extend the same invitation to you. Because really, right now, in this very moment, there is a good chance that you are ok, that you don’t need anything.

How lucky we are.                                                                    

Ok

 

Laura Lavigne is a life coach, writer, artist and a mom. She lives on an island, loves to dance on her trampoline and eats pizza with a fork and knife. She is the is the author of "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies - real life lessons from a real life coach" as well as the creator of "The Money Playground", an innovative, simple and smart home budgeting program. www.themoneyplayground.com

You can visit her atwww.TreeHouseCoaching.com


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