Society very much had its expectations of when we should leave school, what we should do after that, and what happens after that. That totally works for some, and totally doesn’t for others. I was one of the others. Saying that I did go to University and get a degree in Nursing, but realized after a while that that wasn’t for me. My ‘career’ then saw me working for the Prison Service, teaching English in Sri Lanka, and running a pub.
It was after coming to New Zealand that I realized my path had always involved people. It was then that I started to make sense of these different experiences, along with the ‘life’ experiences I had been through. I could see with life coaching I could support people that may have been through similar things to me, or that I could relate to in some way.
I would not have been able to be a Life Coach after leaving school. Sure I could have done a course at that point, but I wouldn’t have had the backing of those lived experiences to support me and would have very much been a textbook therapist.
In hindsight, I realized I had and still am leading a curious life. This can be described as one that can provide us with such beautifully rich experiences, opportunities and memories along the way. It helps us build up skills of openness, trust, faith and truly embracing everything life has to offer.
These experiences may be different events, workshops, volunteering opportunities, study, travel, and simply saying yes to life.
How I ended up supporting the Taranaki Retreat was again a beautiful example of this:
I was taking some time out and had put out on Facebook if anyone knew of a project I could get involved with over Winter to do some volunteer coaching. A friend had seen the Retreat on Good Sorts, and so I got in touch. They said “yes please for the Winter,” which led up to Christmas, where another conversation was had on how to make it sustainable and resulted in me moving to New Plymouth! At no point at the beginning of the process had I thought that it may result in that, it was purely about being curious, and having an open heart and mind.
Yes, I love the coaching that I do now, and see me doing this for a fair while, but am open to where it takes me, what else I will add to the mix to support people, or what other opportunities I will say yes to that are related, for example writing a book, public speaking etc. I am open to where I will be living and certainly enjoy experiencing new and interesting places and events whether for professional development, personal growth or purely to fulfil my curiosity and nourish my soul.
To me, a curious child is someone that may not know exactly what they want to do with their life, but who is active and interested in the world around them in some way, and simply following their heart, or doing what is right for them right now.
I asked my Mum what advice she would give on how to support a curious child… She said “basically a listening ear, an open door and mind and maybe at times not showing too much reaction to what you hear (!), but take it onboard. Encouragement to go out and “do”. But most of all love, and telling them you love them whatever.”
It used to be that someone who would train in something, and pretty much do that for the rest of their life, often in the same company/establishment. Times are changing, and often people are finding their ‘thing’ a lot later in life, after finding work through a lot of jobs that weren’t their thing!
Sometimes it is only later on that we can start to make sense of some of these experiences and how they all puzzle together to create that beautiful rich tapestry of life.
Here is a great podcast that talks about this curiosity-driven life more.
