What would it be like to be able to find the gems in the rubble of 2020...or anything yucky, crummy, disappointing or upsetting? 

Imagine being able to be with the bad stuff of life, AND simultaneously seek out and appreciate the good. How would that change your approach to life, your mood, your level of satisfaction?  

One of my superpowers as a coach/human is finding silver linings, finding the good in the bad, getting the learning from the discomfort. This skill -- being able to choose a (positive) perspective -- and see life from it, literally changed my life. I developed this ability through two big events in my life: 

1. Completing transformational coach training and certification in 2014-15, and 

2. Being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, and having a successful resolution in 2017. 

Since those two experiences, I’ve been wired a little differently than before (literally, my brain function has changed - I’ve rewired my neural pathways...no biggy). When I look at my life with a chronic condition before and after this learning, I can draw direct conclusions that my ability to see silver linings, or gifts in crummy situations, is what has made living with my condition so much easier. I used to be so frustrated with diabetes -- annoyed by it, fighting against it, resisting it, ignoring it, being angry and victimized by it -- until I changed my relationship with it by seeing it from a different perspective. 

I’ve known this is my superpower for a while now, but I struggled to figure out how to share it with folks in a way that’s understandable, applicable and doesn’t sound like fluffy woo-woo promises. I didn’t want it to be written off as a silver lining silver bullet. I knew I could help people unlock more ease and peace in their lives; I just needed to find a way to talk about it!    

This summer, I participated in the Positive Intelligence coaching program (founded by Shirzad Chamine) and a framework from that model gave me a simple way to translate how I shifted my mindset from only negative to at least some of the time positive and be able to share it with others. As a PQ Coach, I’m using it as the backbone of my program, Positively Chronic. 

One of the key components of Positive Intelligence and its backing research in neuroscience, positive psychology and performance psychology, is about what the founder calls the Sage Perspective, and it is this: “Every outcome or circumstance can be turned into a gift and opportunity.” 

My language for this: there is always something good in the bad; a gem in the rubble; a lesson in the discomfort. 

When we embody and believe this, we are enabled to approach life and challenging times from a place of empowerment, creativity and possibility, authorship, ownership and choice...rather than from a place of defeat, victimhood and blame. 

***Something super-duper important to remember: finding a gift or looking for the positive DOES NOT negate the sh#tty stuff that happened and the damage or hurt or other very real negative consequences that happened -- it’s not EITHER a gift OR a bad thing -- it’s BOTH, AND. We just don’t want to get stuck in the “this is bad and only bad” mindset (trust me, 35 years of that was enough) and not be able to see our way out. 

We just need to look at 2020 for living proof that this mindset, this perspective, is true.  

I think we would all agree: global pandemic/COVID-19 = bad thing. People have died and are dying, and becoming sick and having long and challenging recoveries. Health care and other caring professionals are maxed out, exhausted and overwhelmed. Hospitals are on the brink, and in some place, out of capacity. Some indigenous communities are isolated and without proper resources and supports to manage and protect elders and other at-risk community members. Businesses have closed. Conspiracy theorists have gained ground and the worst, dangerous behaviours in self-centred, individualistic society are being seen every day. BAD!

AND… we’ve also seen goodness and creativity and connection emerge from the pandemic: neighbours getting to know each other, checking in on each other, helping each other. There has been support rallying for small local businesses. We’ve spent more time outdoors being active. There’s less pollution due to fewer commutes and less travel. On Tuesday this week, the first vaccines were injected in the UK — ready in under a year, with hundreds of others in development for COVID and other viruses and conditions. 

There are good things if we look for them, and we can be inspired into action as well, to create more good. 

When I look at my experience of living with Type 1 diabetes, some of the gifts I have because of that are being organized and able to plan ahead; being in tune with my body; having a high pain tolerance; I know lots about food and nutrition; and, I’m compassionate toward others because you don’t know what someone’s dealing with. 

Out of my entire life experience, all the professional development I’ve done, all the coaching I’ve received, this is the key — the ability to choose my perspective. It’s the single most valuable and applicable “tool” I got. I use it every day in all kinds of situations. I tap into my Sage perspective, and it opens up playfulness, exploration, creativity... and it helps me realize that things I used to make a big deal about aren’t that big of a deal. This is the gift of choosing a perspective. 

Your invitation is to hold the belief that there’s a gift in every circumstance, or at least hold the possibility that there might be a gift, or something good in a crummy situation...and see what you notice. See how that changes your outlook, your mood, your ease. 

If this is too big a stretch and you’re struggling to find the “good” or the gift in your chronic condition -- or anything -- participating in Positively Chronic might be the thing that gives you back some ownership and power over your mindset. Reach out to see if it’s the thing for you.

SUPER SURPRISE DECEMBER DISCOUNT:

I’m offering $100 off the group program,

and $200 off the solo program

if you register by December 15!

Note: the solo program is suitable for a chronic condition focus, or can be modified for any other focus you have.