As a Martha Beck coach-in-training I have been reading and working through her tips for Finding My North Star. It sounds like an awesome idea, figuring my true purpose and setting my direction to arrive at that defined point in this lifetime – cool!
However, I have yet to really get the north star concept. Instead my life is a bit more like the game Marco, Polo. In case you never played this game it usually takes place in a pool or lake. One person must close their eyes (or be blindfolded). They call out “Marco” and all other players must respond, “Polo”. The unsighted person calling out Marco must find the sighted Polo people. Usually the Blindfolded person is diving in various directions with limited success as the sighted ‘Polo’ folks quickly move about to avoid getting caught.
As to how this applies to my own life, well I seem to have quite wild swings in my directional course. One might think I am simply like the Marco blindfolded person, calling out and waiting for the next marker to call back, Polo. Once I get a signal, off I go chasing to find the source. Truthfully it is not a bad way to live. I am very present focused. However, my north star seems more like the vast milky way, not a single star calling out and laying out a clear path. I go every which way. May be there is some course being mapped by a much higher source than myself. But just like it was playing the game long ago, I often feel like my life is more test of blind faith with random movements, than a path laid out by a clear guiding star.
Last month I had a fairly good idea of the months ahead. I was planning on being at home, focusing on redefining our business and doing some solid ground work on our book. But there was a very loud, Polo, so instead I am off to Canada again. This time with CrisMarie for A Living Alive Phase program. The exciting part is that we will be leading together. The difficulty is that our plans to fully articulate the new ‘thrive! will likely go a bit background as we focus on the day-to-day demands of our group of follow travelers.
May be there is a path. It does seem as though we are getting a clear message that instead of simply focusing on corporate work we need to make plans to engage in working with couples and individuals in a personal mode as well. Again I am simply going on faith, listening for the universal equivalent of “polo” and calling out when I am feeling lost.
“Marco”
“Polo”
Off I go.