'Tis the season

Look at what this beauty gifted me today.

Every year, towards the end of January or early February, my hibiscus plant blooms. Just a single blossom and then she goes dormant again until summer.

It's as if she wants to say: "Hello. I'm still here and working on my blooming. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten how to do it."

Or maybe it's to say: "Hey, you. I know you've been sick lately. Remember that spring and summer will come again."

Perhaps it's to say: "I'm a diva and I will bloom on my own good time, thank you very much, and so should you."

I had a very productive end of 2023 -- wrote a book, taught a course, engaged new coaching clients, connected with and provided care to important people in my life. And then I took a nosedive: food poisoning plus not-COVID respiratory something or other. I've been coughing and sleeping in a chair for a month, coming up for air to re-start teaching and coaching but feeling a drag on my energy, motivation and enthusiasm.

So I took a look at my toolkit and pulled out the ones that I needed for now:

• breathe (slowly, intently, as quietly as possible -- with the help of inhalers)

• write (pulled out the old journal, which I hadn't written in for over a month)

• quality time (I called a fellow coach and booked a call. He reminded me that: "confidence is not a prerequisite, it's a result"; that I can be ready "enough" to move forward; and that this is all part of the work I'm doing this year).

This week the moon is moving into fullness, a typically energizing time for me. Today, January 22, 2024, the moon is 11 days old and 89% illuminated. It's not ready to shine in its entirety, but it's getting there.

What are you almost ready for?