Moment by Moment—practicing the art of Living Forward
Home Coming, By Lou Ness
My blog has a new home. Actually my blog is returning home, home to the business we started in 2004 and I left in 2010 to take the position of Executive Director at Shelter Care Ministries in Rockford, Ill. Now I’m back and ready to embrace the work I love – coaching.
I relished every moment of my time at Shelter Care feeling privileged as I learned about the struggle of poverty through the people we served; adults with serious mental illness and families that are homeless. They taught me about generosity, perseverance, determination, joy, patience, and most important of all, the power of hope. Each day people would show up ready for their lives while offering grace and encouragement to others. I was witness to generosity – people with little, giving to others who have less – given without expectation or judgment, it was miraculous and it exposed my own deep seated opinions and judgment. What Thomas Merton said is true, “From the moment we are born our egos defend their right to be right.”
In many ways I learned about truly Living Forward, by living moment to moment, embracing everything that shows up right in front of me and then finding ways to use it all in service to my life and the lives of others. I remember a woman who was homeless, and gave me a $5.00 donation. Then there was David, my friend from the walk, who gave me one of his two dollars bills. Tell me, have you ever given 50% of everything you have to help another person, I have never done this.
I am ready for a new chapter, my “next great adventure,” and I am intrigued at what awaits me. While I wait, I am awake and ready for whatever the moment tosses my way. One moment we are healthy and strong and the next we are not. One moment we have a job and then we don’t, one moment someone we love is standing next to us and the next they are forever gone – we are powerless to these waiting moments, the ones standing in the wings of our lives ready to step onto our stage. What we can do is choose who we will be in the waiting.
Today is a new day, as all days are, and I am back at Living Forward. What will I do? My first priority is to rest for a short time and recollect the learning’s from the past, spend precious time with family and friends, and consider work. I am opening my practice and will be accepting inquiries from any group looking to engage in transformational systems coaching, I am also accepting individuals, couples and families into my private coaching practice, after that I am wide open.
I will continue my speaking, sharing the 935.5 mile Walk to Washington DC and the many amazing lessons I have learned from that experience and finally, I will strap myself in and write the book. I think that’s a good start. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz said, “There’s no place like home!”