Several years ago, 5-6 to be exact, a dear friend of mine began a thing called Health and Fitness Coaching. I didn't know what a Coach was (I just remembered really liking the swim team coach named Emily when I was about 7 years old) but I was so curious by the idea of it. So I got on Google and figured out what I could about Health and Fitness Coaching. I don't remember what exactly I discovered, I just know that, at the same time, I came across a thing called Life Coaching. And, again, I didn't know what it was, but I was curious about it in a "I think I might be interested in this" sort of way.
At the time of these Google searches, I had recently stabilized after my mental health crisis. While I knew that I didn't want to be a therapist, I did have a desire to help others rediscover their joy for life. This stemmed from my belief that one cannot fully understand what it's like to be suicidal unless you've been so yourself. I had heard many more stories of tragedy than of triumph and I wanted to be a story of triumph. I felt like Life Coaching just might be the answer.
For more than 5 years, I Googled different Life Coaching certifications, slowly discovered people on Instagram who marketed themselves as Life Coaches (including a former coworker!) and even interviewed with several different secular programs. But my gut feelings was that I couldn't trust a secular program. So for as many years, I kept my dream almost entirely to myself, prayed and waited.
Earlier this year, I connected with a Catholic Life Coach and we did an 8 week package together. It was an incredible experience, one that ended up being worth far more than what I financially invested in it. My Coach knew of my dream to become a Coach, too, and she told me about Metanoia Catholic Coaching, a company that teaches you how to coach yourself (in the Metanoia Catholic Academy membership and, practically, with the Metanoia Daily 7 Journal) and that trains and coaches other Catholic Coaches. When I learned that they offered their own certification program, that was all I needed to hear. I joined the Academy and the webinars that I found there added so much to my Metanoia journaling experience. When I found out that they were hosting a live webinar during the morning of a day within a week that I had already planned to take off from work (that happening with no planning on my part is almost miraculous!), I was quick to register and put it on my calendar. At the end of the webinar, when they gave away 5 "Golden Tickets" with a discounted course price, I jumped at the chance and, Yes! I got one. Now it was finally time to click around and see what I had just gotten myself into.
As it turns out, one of the best things to do in the course is the learn how to coach yourself really well. It's still really good to work with a coach, of course, but we learn in the program that you are always your hardest client. So Metanoia offers their journal featuring 7 steps to work through with paper and pen for a 45ish minute personal coaching session. Here's an example of one journaling experience from a couple of weeks ago.
The topic that was on my mind was about embracing my life. But the idea of embracing actually scared me. I decided to journal on it. I took out my trustee Metanoia journal and began to think about my thoughts on the topic of embracing life. I honestly felt like I just couldn't do it -- I could not embrace life. And the great thing about Catholic Coaching and learning how to coach myself by using my Metanoia journal is that it's ok that I can't embrace life. All that means is that I'm not ready for it yet. It's too big of a thought for me. I began to write out all of my thoughts and study them, looking for the facts within my thoughts. I quickly saw where my thought pattern was going. When I think of embracing, here's what happens: I dive in headfirst but then I find out what the commitment entails and it scares me, so I withdraw and stay in my comfortable, familiar space of wherever I was before. I realized that it doesn't have to be that way. And the thought that came up within my thoughts about embracing is the idea of leaning into whatever the circumstance, challenge, occasion, relationship is. I was so peaceful and joyful about the idea of leaning in that I immediately jumped on Etsy and ordered a custom ring with the words "Lean In" on it. Combined with the ring from the same shop that features of my word of the year for 2022, "Daughter" and the ring set now reads, Daughter, lean in. Wow wow wow the gentleness and grace that I am reassured with every time I look at my rings or play with them. There's so much less pressure in that thought now. So much less anxiety. So much less perfectionism and so much more acceptance of the present moment. It's permission to be myself and know that that's enough.
I am so grateful to have finally discovered the world of Catholic Coaching. Metanoia Catholic is literally the Catholic Coaching company that I didn't know existed. I am so excited to lean in, make mistakes, learn the content, gain experience and continue teaching myself and others the greatness and transformative potential of thinking about our thoughts.
I can't wait to share more!!
