January 11, 2016
Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone has had a good day, despite the fact it is MONDAY!!!!! I am currently watching the NCAA Football Championship game on TV (Alabama vs. Clemson, for those who don’t know) with my husband and even though we really have no preference as to who wins (we are Purdue graduates, so GO BOILERS!) we are just enjoying these kids playing a good football game. Jon and I love almost all sports and are passionate Chicago sports fans, since we are originally from Northern Indiana, so that is another fact about me 🙂 All teams in Chicago except that baseball team on the south side (the White Sox) we LOVE OUR CUBBIES!!!!! Oh here is another fact I am proud of…when Jon and I were first dating I introduced him to Chicago Blackhawks hockey (been a fan all of my life) and taught HIM the rules of hockey! Hahaha! Only a good guy would let his woman teach HIM about anything sports!!!!
Anyway, I had a productive day today which was my goal because I really don’t want to get stuck in this anxiety of waiting and being busy definitely helps…it doesn’t take it away, but I will focus on the positive here. I had a really good session with a coaching client today and whenever I help someone else figure out what is keeping them from their goals or blocking them from whatever success it is they are seeking, I feel privileged to be a part of the process. This is why I love being a Life Coach. I also love it because I have my own coach who I work with and I have found it so valuable to have that resource through this journey of infertility. Let me explain….
A professional coach is not a counselor, a mentor or a consultant (all great professions, just different), a coach is someone who partners with you to discover the ways we block ourselves from success and happiness. A coach knows that the individual has the answers to their questions and the solutions to their problems, but sometimes a person needs someone who can ask the powerful questions that uncover these things for the client that they didn’t even know were there. It is a powerful process and the best part is that the client is the expert and determines the direction of the relationship and what they want to work on…they own their results, the coach does not which means the client is more likely to maintain any changes to their situation they have made because they own it! I worked in the counseling field for 12 years before I became a coach and as much as I loved parts of counseling, coaching fits who I am in a more complete way. As a client who has a coach, I find that it helps me immensely to navigate my way through my emotions and struggles with TTC (trying to concieve) and infertility. The stress of it is definitely more manageable with having a coach, for me.
One way I manage that stress is that I have been participating a lot more in my TTC support groups on Facebook (which I love being a part of, they have helped a lot) and I feel compelled to do so because I have realized how important this issue is for SO many of us! I have been through some tough stuff in my life but I see so many women in my groups that have been through things I can’t wrap my brain around let alone being able to manage, such as MULTIPLE miscarriages. Trying to have a child and losing every single pregnancy you have experienced is a kind of pain I pray I never go through and if I do that God give me the strength to endure without too much sacrifice.
Hats off to all of us on this journey of infertility and trying to have the family we have always wanted!!!
Love and Baby Dust!
Sarah