Have you lost sight of your dreams, or don’t know how to bring them to life?

If so, you are not alone. So many people lose touch with their dreams or lose confidence in the possibility that they could become a reality.

A true story that points the way

I love this story, which is a great metaphor for what can happen to any one of us and, in fact, often does.

Centuries ago, in a monastery in Thailand, there was a huge, nine-foot Buddha made of pure gold. During a Burmese invasion, some monks in the monastery covered it with mud in the hopes of protecting it from looters. All of the monks were killed, and the Buddha was left untouched because it looked, well, like mud.

The plain-looking, huge grey statue sat for years and years in this minor monastery, of which there are many in Thailand. It certainly wasn’t given the care and attention of a golden Buddha, because no one knew that’s what it was!

Discovering the gold within

In 1957 the Buddha had to be moved to a new monastery while its current home underwent repairs. While preparing for the move, a crack was discovered in the statue. Fortunately, it occurred to one curious monk to shine a flashlight in the crevice.

Eureka! Out of the crack shone a sliver of gold! In chipping away further, bit by bit, it was discovered that the whole statue was made of pure gold!

You, too, have gold under the mud!

Within each of us is the “gold” of who we are at our core. Our hopes and dreams are the rays that shine out from that core. When we live true to our heartfelt values and visions, we live lives of fulfillment, meaning, and satisfaction. We live the life we were meant to live.

But there’s a problem.

Doubts, fears, and negative conclusions about what is possible can pile up and harden over your inner gold like the mud did on the Buddha.

It can happen when you listen to other well-meaning people who tell you to “be realistic.”

Or it can happen when you make some efforts toward your dreams and get discouraged.

Or it’s possible you don’t allow yourself to ask, “What makes my heart sing? What would it look like to live the life I love? What is truly important to me?”

Whatever the reason, the golden light of your heartfelt desires likely got covered up somewhere along the way.

A life coach can help you make your gold shine again!

Here’s how:

• A coach reflects back your strengths when you lose sight of them and helps you see your potential.
• A coach takes your dreams and visions seriously.
• A coach offers tools for dealing with negative thoughts that cloud your vision so that you can more clearly see what is important to you.
• A coach supports you in taking small, sweet, doable steps toward your goals until you reach them.
• A coach encourages you and celebrates with you each step of the way.
• A coach doesn’t give up on you.

Life coaching supports you in creating a life that is informed by what matters most to you, tuning in to what makes your heart sing, and concretely bringing your visions into reality in an enjoyable way. It doesn’t get better than that!