Tag Archives: Barry Demp Coaching

“The glassblower knows: While in the heat of beginnings any shape is possible

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“The glassblower knows: While in the heat of beginnings any shape is possible. Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.”

—Mark Nepo, Author of The Book of Awakening

Image from Unsplash by Clémente Philippe

Consider yourself a glassblower, shaped in the heat of your early years by many environmental factors. To what degree do you keep the fires burning to continue shaping yourself and your life into a work of art?

Where have you stopped in your development and perhaps become hardened and resistant to change? Where have the changes in your world over the past two years caused some cracks or broken you?

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional life can you fire up the kiln of a new beginning to continue shaping a more beautiful life?

If you, too, are fascinating by glassblowing, consider visiting Chihuly Garden and Glass near the Space Needle at Seattle center. A visit here was ranked 1st of the 499 things to do in Seattle on TripAdvisor. An online visit may be a good place to start.

Every little bit helps

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Every little bit helps.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Lina Trochez

What small deed will you perform today to improve someone’s life?

Performing small acts of kindness and generosity is our birthright. Small gestures — even if they go unnoticed — move mountains as they contribute to the people and communities we care about.

Going small and going big are both ways of going.

Everything counts.

EXERCISE:

What small deed can and will you perform today to improve someone’s life?
What would making this a daily habit bring to you and your world?

Friday Review: Resolutions

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Friday Review: Resolutions

What resolutions are you considering for the new year? How resolute are you in keeping them? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

 

“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.”

 

 

 

“Most good resolutions start too late and end too soon.”

 

 

 

“How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them!”

 

 

 

 

 

We could never have guessed were already blessed There we were

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“We could never have guessed / were already blessed / There we were…”

—James Taylor, in “Up Er Mei”

Image from Unsplash by Donald Giannatti

The days leading to and during the holidays are times of deeper reflection for many. The slowing of our work schedules and the numerous celebrations involving family and friends help us pause to count our many blessings. This past week my son and his wife visited us, driving from Madison, Wisconsin to Warminster, Pennsylvania to reconnect and enjoy some quality time together.

Delicious meals, extended family gatherings, and playing with our daughter’s children Weston and Ella were some highlights. Perhaps the greatest blessing was simply noting how thankful we were to be in each other’s company.

EXERCISE:

In what ways do you already count your many blessings? How can and will you approach this holiday season and the year ahead with a more mindful and heartfelt appreciation for all that you have?

I say yes when I mean no and the wrinkle grows.

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“I say yes when I mean no and the wrinkle grows.”

—Naomi Shihab Nye, American poet, songwriter, and novelist

Image from Unsplash by philippe collard

Depending on when you are reading today’s quote, try these mental exercises:

If you read it early in your day, examine the activities in your schedule related to both your professional and personal commitments. How many have you agreed to out of obligation or to not hurt others feeling? What is the cost to your vitality and well-being for betraying or going against your natural desires and instincts?

If you read it later in the day, take a moment to reflect on the many times you said “yes” when your inner voice was whispering or screaming “NO!”? How fatigued or wrinkled do you feel and look at the end of the day having handed over many hours to others to get along and keep the peace?

EXERCISE:

Examine your days carefully through the lenses of the words MORE, LESS, START, and STOP.  Do your best today to save your yeses for the MORES and STARTS and voice your no’s toward the LESS’s and STOPs on your list.  Hopefully you develop only good wrinkles from the smiles that will result.

One key to knowing joy is to be easily pleased.

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“One key to knowing joy is to be easily pleased.”

—Mark Nepo, Author of The Book of Awakening

Image from Unsplash by NordWood Themes

We live in a world of constant comparison. It is driving many of us crazy.

Foolishly we believe that constantly pursuing excellence in all things is a sign of worldliness and higher status. Consider this list:

  • The vehicle you drive
  • The food you eat
  • Where you went to school
  • Your career or job
  • Your home
  • Your family and friends
  • Where you go on holiday or vacation
  • The water you drink

When we see ourselves as special, deserving only the best, we can become isolated. When no one or no-thing can meet our high standards on every occasion we are guaranteed to be let down.

What if instead, we seek to discover the specialness in all things that come our way as a path toward greater joy and happiness?

EXERCISE:

Consider reading Factfulness by Hans Rosling. I am sure you will be even more easily pleased with your life.

Where do you ignore your limits

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Where do you ignore your limits?  How might you honor them today?

—Calm app Reflection

Image from Unsplash by André Bandarra

Where in your personal or professional life have your competitive spirit and ability to push yourself served you or set you back?

There are two sides to this coin, and sometime realizing our limitations can be liberating and transformative.

By embracing our limits, we can often more fully experience each moment with greater awareness and clarity before we take our next step.

EXERCISE:

Where are you currently bumping up against a limitation where you feel stuck or stopped?

Where might honoring this closed door reveal a different opening or possibility you never considered?

Friday Review: Planning

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FRIDAY REVIEW: PLANNING

Are you a planner? How often do you plan out your day or week? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

 

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”

 

 

 

“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”

 

 

 

“No plan is worth the paper it is printed on unless it starts you doing something.”

 

 

 

 

“A life well-lived is firmly planted in the sweet soil of moments.”

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“A life well-lived is firmly planted in the sweet soil of moments.”

—Wayne Muller, Author of How Then Shall We Live

Image from Unsplash by CDC

This year has included many significant moments for myself and my family. Some landmark moments included the passing of my dear dad, the move from Michigan to Pennsylvania after 34 years, and the birth of our new granddaughter.

With the dramatic change in venue and our routines, Wendy and I have been paying even closer attention to all the sweet and sometimes sour moments that make up our days.

We see ourselves as gardeners carefully and lovingly planting many new seeds and tending to our plot of the world. We intend to sink deep roots into the sweet soil of our many blessings especially during this holiday season.

EXERCISE:

How mindful and grateful are you about your life?

How connected and deeply rooted are you within your various communities?

How might you better cultivate the sweet soil of each moment to live an even more richly rewarding life?

“To be a good fisherman you must detach yourself from the dream of the fish. This makes whatever is caught or found a treasure.”

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“To be a good fisherman you must detach yourself from the dream of the fish. This makes whatever is caught or found a treasure.”

—Buddhist saying

 Image from Unsplash by NOAA

I have a client and good friend named Rich, who loves to fish. Hearing him talk about his passion is a blast. Last year, he invited me to join him in his passion at a local lake.

With an early start on a promising day, we switched places and Rich became my coach. During our five-hour excursion he caught numerous fish and I — with all my giggling — came up with a single small-mouth bass, just prior to us calling it a day. Later, over a meal, I came to the realization that it was our treasured friendship that was the big fish I caught that day.

EXERCISE:

Where have you caught or discovered new things to celebrate and appreciate on your way to some other intended place? Where might detaching yourself from things you expect open you up to new people and experiences to treasure?