The unexamined life is not worth living
- Aristotle
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all
- Helen Keller
At the extremes, there are two types of people:
*** Life scholars: Those who think before they speak, who’s idea of a perfect day is having nothing in the diary and
their head in a book (and another 23 books in their Amazon basket), those who crave quiet & solitude, get all jazzed up about philosophy, science or any idea which begins with “the theory of…” and who ultimately want to understand the fabric & nature of the life they’re living
*** Life explorers: Those who speak before they think, who crave
stimulation, prefer not to sit still by themselves with their own thoughts, shriek “YOLO!” whenever there’s an opportunity to do something (anything!) and ultimately want to dive head first into life and touch, taste, sense & feel the world rather than turn it into an intellectual exercise
Sure, I’m stereotyping.
But when you boil it down to the bare essentials:
There are people who see life as something to be figured out (the life scholars) and there are people who see life as something to be experienced (the life explorers).
Clearly neither approach is right or wrong.
Both approaches have their advantages.
And yes, their
disadvantages too.
Life scholars might be the most knowledgeable scholars at base camp but they never set foot on the mountain. Whereas life explorers might be the most adventurous explorers on the mountain but they run out of oxygen halfway up.
My take?
I think the scholars can learn a little something from the explorers and the explorers can learn a little something from the scholars.
In fact, my approach to coaching is built around
this very principle.
My coaching examines the question "how does life work?". On the basis that the more you see about how life works, the less life feels like blindly climbing through thick fog and the more it feels like the fog is lifting. And as it lifts and the clearer you see, every next step not only feels lighter and more obvious, but it also
reveals more of the path ahead.
And on it goes, like the ultimate snowball effect.
So it’s not an either/or situation. It’s a dance between two approaches to life which can work together in tandem, one supporting and
informing the other, and both leading to climbing whatever mountain is right for you.
That’s the way I see it.
I know the devoted life scholars will be all sniffy about the idea of embarking on a real life
adventure. To them, life happens on the inside.
I know the most eager life explorers will huff & puff at the thought of some introspection. To them, life happens on the outside.
But it is what it is when it
comes to my coaching. No point beating around the bush.
If you’d like to find out more:
https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com