Ann McMaster - Life as It Is

2009 - A Look Back

I racked up the air miles in 2009 with 2 trips to New Zealand, 2 trips to South Africa, and my trip to India - as well as 2 trips to Huntsville, AL and another 2 trips to Minneapolis. It's been a fast-paced year. 

One of the things I am most proud of is the quality of the coaching program for which I have been the lead for the last two years. It has been a fulfilled passion of mine to see this happen and to be a part of making it real. It is a superior coaching program, period. Sophie Edwards did the original architecture for it, Pascale Ascher designed the courses (with input from Sophie); AND, I was able to talk it through with Brad Brown and get his "thumbs up" before he died. All of the students who completed the Coaching Essentials Courses and the Professional Coaching Courses are some of the elite students in the More To Life Program. Working with them has been one of the highs of my training experience. Most of my commitment to implement this coaching initiative is complete. Two more trips to New Zealand in 2010 will not only complete my part of making it happen, but also give me 2 more chances for adventure in NZ - a place rife with adventures.

I also had the privilege of supporting three More To Life communities - Houston, TX, Huntsville, AL and Knoxville, TN. Being a part of building community is a raucous ride on one hand, and deep communion on the other. It's the fastest way I know to learn about empowering partnerships.

At the close of 2009, in order to prevent the possibility of too much slack time, I was invited (and I accepted) to be a member of the newly created US Board for the More To Life Program. So my participation in this program continues to occupy much of my time, which is congruent with the space it occupies in my heart; from which, I continue to evolve spiritually - consciously evolving; and for which, I am deeply grateful.

To further do our bit for conscious evolution, William Holt and I have been steadily progressing our consultancy, TriVergent International. We are delivering a woman-empowerment program for a multi-national and have our fingers in some American pies ... finally. (Most of our business has been out of the country, and we have been angling to have more business in the States, not requiring so much travel.)

That's the 2009 "DO" part of my life. The "BE" part of my life finds my faith has deepened - faith in myself, faith in my family and friends, and faith in The Moment - and all that each moment holds for me and for the world. I still deal with all the default programing from days of yore, but, at 65, I have gained a modicum of wisdom that recognizes that old wiring more quickly and deals with it more efficiently. And to balance that out, I have Rebecca (my daughter) and her family and all my pathmates world-wide - making sure that my heart becomes more and more open.

I love my life - I am healthy and have more than I need and all that I want. I have been blessed by this past year.

Christmas - 2009

I knew Rebecca, Troy, Hayleigh and Chase would be gone to Wisconsin this Christmas - sharing the holiday with Troy's family. So without the kids here, it didn't seem worth the effort to put up a tree and lights, get out all the Christmas wreaths, candles, hand towels, tree bows, and miscellaneous tchotchkes that go with the season. So I didn't do any of itl (I did buy and wrap gifts.)

As I look back on it, I see that I sank into a mini-depression - feeling listless, bored, at loose ends with nothing to do. I watched TV - whatever program came on, I watched it. The lifeshock (wake up) for me was when I came back from a short visit to the kitchen, and a very young Al Pacino was shooting a very young Robert De Niro. I didn't know who was the good/bad guy, or why they were shooting at each other. 

That's pathetic. Wasting my life doing something in which I have no investment, while I am actually split off somewhere else, and I don't know where. That's not just pathetic, it's scary.

Enough! Enough of being a somnambulist! Of finding ways to hibernate, waiting for the kids to come home (or whatever else I 'wait' for); as if I had no real part to play in my Now-life! What Could I be doing that would enrich my life, which is Now on offer with this 'empty' space of time? I usually have to schedule "empty' time.

Having done this at least a million times before, the answer comes readily. I can go inwardly receptive, instead of outwardly receptive. I can update my amazing bio-computer with the most current data - who am I NOW? What matters to me in my heart of hearts? How do I want to spend the rest of my life? Has it changed from the last time I checked in? Or has it tweaked slightly in the absence of my own presence to myself? I am honed by each moment of life, it's up to me to keep up - consciously.

Answering These questions is now my aim. And I am not bored.

PS  I'll still be glad when the kids come home! And I am totally committed to using this seasonal fallow time to ensure that Who I Am gets my full measure of attention and commitment. It's a gift of time I will not waste.