The Wisdom of You

You know & feel it… you have a wisdom that is in the special gifts that only you can give to others. These gifts are what I call “The Wisdom of You”. I believe that you and I may offer almost the same words or actions to others, but only your way will speak to some people. Some people can only understand what you offer by the way you offer it… by the way they can connect with you and maybe not me. If you don’t share your wisdom, those same people may never “get the message”. I was an elementary school principal for ten years of my 30-year public education career. Every year I would greet every class of students with a message about why they were in school. I told them that, yes, they were here to learn reading, math, and all the other subjects; however, most important was for each of them to begin learning what their gifts were so that when they were grown they could give them back to the world. Many children do have an idea of what their unique gifts are and they can be encouraged to develop them, trust in them, and use them. Now that I am a professional coach, I work with some people who have let life get in the way and know what their they special wisdom is and now want to begin sharing it more openly in their lives. This desire usually comes with a realization that sharing your wisdom is “living your bliss”, to use Joseph Campbell’s phrase, and they are not living in that place. These folks then begin to have questions… fears and doubts… around stepping forward and declaring their wisdom and staying the path to share it. Oh yeah, there are all those things about how to get started… like where, when, with what and, of course can they really make a living by sharing their wisdom; i.e. will any body pay them for what they share?

This article is about what is needed to stay the course, both while you are figuring out all those details, and, even more importantly, once you begin and things don’t go as fast as you would like. I chose 5 words and a corresponding life energy that supports each trait. These words suggest traits we will want to cultivate as we move in the direction of sharing our wisdom. The trait words actually came from Meg Wheatly’s latest book: Perseverance © 2010.

The first trait is Groundedness. We know our wisdom… know it well, and we believe that part of our life purpose is to share it. Even when things are not going well, we can quiet our minds and feel our connection with this wisdom. From this place of knowing, we can reconnect with the part of us that supports our moving forward and staying the course. One of the ways for our life energy to flow, as described in my book: 5 Life Energies, supports this feeling of Groundedness. There is a life energy, called “chi” flowing through each of us. The direction and the intensity of its flows affect our thoughts, emotions, and how we move. So, if we intentionally shift our flow in different directions we can support the emotions and thoughts we choose to support our intentions. The feeling of groundedness is stronger within us if we allow our life energy to flow down and slightly forward. I call this Earth Energy. We can support this flow of energy by intentionally feeling the connection with the ground through our feet and by leaning slightly forward as we sink our energy deep into the earth. My 12 year study of Tai Chi taught me that the more we sink our chi into the earth, the more energy rises up from the earth and flows through our bodies. So, when you want to call on the trait of Groundedness, allow your life energy to flow as Earth Energy.

Another trait is Faith. This trait may begin with excitement and a strong belief that we will be able to share our wisdom and that others will value within it. As most of us know Faith may be challenged along the way and we may even lose our way at times. If our faith is strong, we will fairly quickly get back on course and continue to move ahead. A life energy that supports Faith is Fire Energy. When our life energy is flowing up and forward we are able to remain focused on our intentions and others feel this and pay attention… as we “know the way”. Fire Energy has various intensities and the raging fire at time is a bank of coals waiting to flare up again. Use the flow of Fire Energy to support your Faith in your wisdom and how it will serve others.

Perseverance is what gives you courage to take action. As Meg Wheatly points out, the Chinese translation is “patience”. To persevere involves knowing how to call on patience to make it through the tough times. The flow of life energy that supports this trait is Water Energy. When our life energy is flowing back and down, we can “go with the flow”… whether fast or slow, and find the gift in all of our experiences along the way. By shifting our energy flow to Water Energy we can accept what comes our way, allow it to be, and then move along in the direction of our intention.

Fearlessness allows us to be open to what comes without being so attached that we can’t appreciate the learning that comes with it. We can avoid defensiveness and remain curious… it is not “all about us”… it never is. Allowing our life energy to flow back and up in Air Energy takes us to a place of curiosity, even wonder. We look around more as we are less focused and more interested in everything that is going on. We may even see new possibilities that were not there when we were in Fire Energy or even in deep Earth Energy… where we believe we have all the answers. (No energy flow is better or worse than others, all have a positive use and a not so positive use. When we pay attention to when things are not serving us and those around us, we can learn to shift the flow and change our connection within ourselves and with others.) Air Energy serves us well when we feel we are too attached to the way things need to be for us.

Last, but certainly not least, is the trait of Joy. Joy comes from within us… no one can give it to us. Joy supports our intentions, allows us to truly celebrate everything that comes our way and is a wonderful clue that we are on the path to sharing our wisdom. Center Energy, where life energy is flowing all around us and within us in every direction, allows us to be in the moment where all is as it should be. It supports a mood of peace. To support the flow of Center Energy, pause and balance your feet beneath your body, allow your head to be in that “sweet spot” where you do not feel it’s weight, breathe slowly and just be… and feel the joy that comes from feeling your connection to all of life.

I encourage you to enjoy and share The Wisdom of You!