To provide context, I am currently enrolled in this ten-month personal development program, where we meet once every two months as a group to discuss some pretty interesting topics around radical self-acceptance, practice our listening skills, and simply get to be with other people.

These were my top ten aways from the event this weekend. 

1. We get to give the gift of presence and simply get to be in another person’s world without judgment, assessment, fixing, analyzing, or offering anything. So many of us listen to respond with something- sometimes it’s trying to look good other times, it’s just simply hard for us to be in another person’s world to truly get them. 
2. Community days are always a lot of fun. During the course, we get to invite guests into our lives so they can get to come to observe. It’s always such a beautiful sight when you see the depth of relationships and what people mean to each other. Acknowledgments are such a powerful practice and you are moved to tears when you see what people say about each other. 
3. We can choose to focus on what’s wrong with the world, or we can be a stand for possibility. One comes from a fixed mindset and survival, and the other comes from genuine belief and being present to the enormous amount of positive change in the world. There will always be injustice, and many of us tend to focus on the negative issues instead of giving equal time to what’s working. 
4. Truly coming from nothing is the best gift we can give someone. So many of us have so experiences, that it really is impossible not to come from the past. We think we know better, but in reality, we are just collecting evidence to prove out our story. If it’s not an empowering context, drop it. 
5. There was a portion where some of the mothers expressed that they wished their kids would call them more often. I was moved to tears because there have been so many moments where I have taken my mom for granted. I tell her I love her all of the time, and there is nothing more sacred than a mother’s unconditional love. 
6. Philosophy and the practice of thinking actually help me be more productive. There is something special about practice and thinking about different concepts such that words cannot never physically hurt you but words can create a world. 
7. Being present and mindful lets you be with the right now instead of thinking so much about the past or future. The only moment we have is right now. Why not make the most of it? 
8. Gratitude, Appreciation, and Abundance is what make life so special. Just a simple question, what do you like most about life right now can illicit getting into someone’s world. I shared that I love looking outside my place and seeing the water fountain with birds flying across. Even something as simple as I was on the phone with a friend, and she noticed the birds chirping when I was walking around in my neighborhood, and she shared that was nice. That helped me be present to the luck and joy I have in my life currently. 
9. I noticed that I still withhold as much training and development as I have received. I am still afraid to put myself out there, and there are things that I procrastinate, and that’s okay. I noticed I feel less inclined to try to get likes, but I am just sharing for the sake of sharing. 
10. I respect the course leaders so much, it’s always in the way we are being that’s more important than the doing. 

coaching Landmark's Wisdom Course