‘Do you know you’re alive, are you aware of that?’

‘Uh, yeah, I guess?’

‘Well, that’s LITERALLY where happiness starts!’

‘Hahahahaha, sure! Whatever…’

There are many reasons why I love coaching so much.

The art.

The simplicity.

The obviousness.

And the fact that most of us overlook the True Treasure all the time.

It’s like sharing a secret that’s not really a secret, and feels way too good to be true anyway.

An incredibly interesting activity that needs intricate, surgical precision.

A lot of trust in the unfolding.

And a shitload of intuition.

Here’s what makes it so challenging:

Right now, as I write this in Amsterdam, simply being aware of being alive feels incredibly good.

Being Aware Of Being Alive Feels Amazing.

A-ma-zing.

But why?

How?

Huh?

I mean, I was alive ever since I was born, I guess, so why didn’t I always feel how and what I feel in this moment?

The idea that the exact same thing can have such a different impact and value and tangible feeling is totally out of this world.

And it just doesn’t make sense!

‘Yeah, sure, I’m alive, but so what? I don’t like this version of being alive, I still need stuff, I need to get rid of stuff, I hate a lot of stuff, and I love other stuff that I don’t have but still need to get, so there’s still SO MUCH work to do. Who cares about consciousness, man!’

THAT makes sense, THAT sounds like what needs to be done.

The stuff.

The change that comes from really hard and arduous work.

The results, the goals, the tops of the mountains, the shiny gold.

And so I get it that not a single person in the world gets excited when they hear that ‘being aware of awareness is where you find all the freedom you want’.

Still, it’s what I sell.

And I don’t just sell the experience that comes with the shift, this conscious recognition of this utterly liberating, natural state: it all starts with the treacherous, unpredictable road towards it.

The road that’s literally covered with mental bombs, toxic beliefs, solid habits, crystallized cynicism, and soul-sucking stories.

I love coaching So.Fucking.Much because I get to guide all kinds of people along this path, this very personal and unique journey, while being respectfully aware that it’s a purely imaginary adventure.

I have nothing to prove and I have ultimately nothing to teach, because I know that finding their way home simply requires a moment of insight.

And that WILL happen.

It’s my job to assist in the exploration, to remove apparent obstacles, and hang in there and make the journey with them, even though I know exactly where we’re going.

This makes me a living compass, a signpost with arms, and a magnet at the same time, and being all that is incredibly satisfying.

I never knew that the most obvious realization in the world is the hardest thing to recognize, but I’m eternally grateful for this tantalizing riddle.

Let me know if you’d like me on your side for a while.

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(Photo by @debrupas, for Unsplash)