SWIHA Blog

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself,” wrote Joseph Campbell, the iconic mythologist best known for his work The Hero's Journey.

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, historically designed to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Unfortunately, some of those brave individuals no longer walk with us on Earth because they have chosen to make a life-ending decision, often due to the complications of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In fact, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that roughly 11-20% of veterans who have served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom suffer from PTSD. 

With these numbers in mind, let’s explore the Hero’s Journey and consider how we can better honor our veterans on this significant day…

A couple of weekends ago, Elizabeth Gilbert, the bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love, spoke at the International Women’s Summit with the message that what we need is more “relaxed” women in the world. While I was prepared for the re-packaged dogma of “work hard to get ahead,” it took me by complete surprised when the opening night’s keynote question was: “How much more would you accomplish if you chose to be a relaxed woman?”

This message has been swirling around in my head, especially as I have been ‘on assignment’ as Granny Nanny to my two granddaughters, ages 3 and 7, while my son (who just graduated from medical school) and his bride of ten years are vacationing in Europe for a little well-deserved rest and relaxation.  

A few weeks ago, I was asked if I wanted to do a 5K Run. I could have easily said, “Oh, I’d like to, BUT I haven’t run in over 30 years.” Instead I said, “Yes, sign me up!”

Staying stuck in a rut, and 'yeah butting' myself has never been my style. My saying YES immediately produced incredible results: I ended up placing 5^th in my age group despite all those years of not running. Once I became committed to removing the ‘but’ from my life, I have gotten farther, faster!

As a long-time Transformational cCoach, I have worked with hundreds of people who have come to me for life coaching, saying they want to fast-forward their lives and leave behind the things that hold them back. One of the most powerful exercises I offer them is the opportunity to make a list of all the things they want to do in their lives, yet have not done. After they create the list, they are invited to take the things on their list and add the word ‘but’ to the end of the sentence. These are typical examples: