One of the most important things I’ve learned in my life of 48 years is that even what we most resist as perfect in our lives is, in fact, PERFECT.

Imagine something you’ve “gone through” in your life that was painful for you. Now that you look back on it, can you see what you “got from” that experience? We almost always can! We sometimes get what we need in order to grow, rather than what we want. And that’s the natural order of things.

There’s a book called “Drops Like Stars”, written by Rob Bell, which describes the notion that suffering is necessary for creation. He believes our creation is more powerful when driven by our suffering. In the book, Bell quotes sculptor Harriet March:

So, in the end every major disaster, every tiny error, every wrong turning, every fragment of discarded clay, all the blood, sweat and tears — everything has meaning. I give it meaning. I reuse, reshape, recast all that goes wrong so that in the end nothing is wasted and nothing is without significance and nothing ceases to be precious to me.

Isn’t this lovely? Using life for every drop of wisdom we can gain – using every tragedy for all we can gain – seeing that everything IS perfect in spite of the pain.

Coach Charrise

After a lovely, relaxing, off the grid vacation a few weeks ago, I returned home to find that my beloved MacBook would not boot up. For about an hour or so, I was in sheer panic about the data I might be losing. At some point I resigned myself to the idea that it’s just data, and I am not in control now over it. I either did the proper backups or I didn’t, and the computer would either crash and burn or be brought back to life.

After having it looked at by professionals it was determined that the hard drive failed. No data recovery possible. I then began the data restore process.

One full week later, I’m still restoring. (moment of silence) And I’ve still got quite a ways to go. A few days ago, my Vonage phone began not to work. Yesterday, my Blackberry lost some settings and was acting up. Yesterday and today, Twitter is unreliable and so was Facebook. I was on a recorded call today and the recorder accidently deleted the recording before capturing. Technology continues to go sideways.

During these technological bumps in the road, I have been looking for the lessons. The first lesson is that I depend more than I’d like on technology. I also think I keep too much data – as I seem to be doing fine without some of it. And the bigger lesson is about connectivity.

As humans, I believe we are meant to connect on deep levels with one another. Technology and interfaces like Twitter and Facebook are simply tools for creating those initial connections. The real stuff happens offline, belly to belly, eyeball to eyeball – or voice to voice. When technology lets us down, we can always find ways to reconnect with our spirit and with our true relationships. What matters is the connecting, not the tools we use to connect.

I’m being as patient as I can be – and I’m looking for the lessons in real time. The universe is telling me something. I think the true learning for me involves getting clear on what is important. And for me, that’s relationships.

What is it for you?

Coach Charrise

Business is changing. There are many signs pointing toward the need for greater consciousness in business.

I’ve been studying leaders and leadership for many years, and now I’m jumping in with both feet. I am committed to sharing positive stories of leaders who are leading with an elevated sense of consciousness – those who understand that there must be equal focus on people, our planet, and profit. I’m writing stories about leaders who lead in spite of fear, and are committed to courageous moves even if they aren’t popular.

I’ve started a new blog, called TheFearlessLeader, and you can find it here. This space is devoted to thoughts and stories related to this new movement in business, where leaders lead us fearlessly into a world where we know that we’re in this together.

I’m seeking connections to leaders that understand that moving forward, business cannot be conducted as usual. I’d love your help in making those introductions, so that you can join the movement and be part of the solution. You can make a difference.

Please email me if you know about a fearless leader who is playing a big game with new rules. I’d be much obliged.

Coach Charrise