Newsletter:Right Now! Coach

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LifeRhyme Notes
March/April 2004
By Rochelle Melander, Coach
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IN THIS ISSUE...
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1. Consider the Dandelion
2. Single Step Challenge
3. Good Quote
4. Worth Talking About

Consider the Dandelion
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Yesterday, my daughter and I went walking. Dandelions abound in our neighborhood. Each time she saw one, she exclaimed, "Flower! Pretty flower!" I didn't tell her the truth--that the flower is a weed that people both curse and obliterate.

Since then, I've been wondering: who decides. Who decides when a bloom is a flower and when it's a weed? For a child, the dandelion is as lovely as the daffodil (and more so, because within the dandelion seeds lie wishes, waiting for the breath of a dreamer to give them life).

So who cursed the bold dandelion? For that matter, who decides who is beautiful or ugly, in or out, welcome or disdained, accepted or forbidden?

We do.

When we see a woman who is, as Alexander McCall Smith would say, traditionally built--we make assumptions about her. When we see a dark-skinned man with baggy trousers walk toward us, we think we know what he's about. We meet new people and within moments we have them categorized by our label-making minds as "one of those people" or "just like me." In either case, we are wrong. A little label cannot hold the magnificence of a person, her or his tender
complexities will spill over the lines.

Relationships change when we let go of labels. We learn that our angry, arrogant boss is passionate and distracted by her vision for the company. We see that our fumbling coworker is deeply kind. We walk by a field of dandelions and say to our child, look at the lovely flowers!

Single Step Challenge (TM)
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Approach the people in your life with openness. Listen, ask questions, learn. How does this approach change the quality of your relationships? How does it change YOU?

Good Quote
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The First Dandelion
Simple and fresh and fair from winter's close emerging, As if no artifice of fashion, business, politics had ever been, Forth from its sunny nook of shelter's grass--innocent golden, calm as the dawn, The spring's first dandelion shows its trustful face.
--Walt Whitman

Worth Talking About
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Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute. This book talks about what happens when we relate to people through the stories we have created about them instead of seeing who they really are. A quick and life-changing read!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. This is the first in a series of novels about Precious Ramotswe (a traditionally built lady) and her work helping people in her small Botswana village solve the problems in their lives.

Inspired?
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Are you inspired by what you read here? Then pass it on!

Interested in setting new goals for 2004 or having support for working toward something you've always wanted to do? Give me a call at 414-963-1222 or send me an e-mail (rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com) to set up a free coaching consultation!

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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I will not sell or share my subscriber list with anyone.

LIFERHYME NOTES 2004 is a free monthly e-mail newsletter designed to consider how we can integrate spirituality into our daily lives. It is written and produced by Rochelle Melander, personal and professional coach. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com. I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to forward your copy of LIFERHYME NOTES to anyone you think might enjoy it. I do request that you keep the entire newsletter intact, including my contact and copyright information.