Wow, it’s closing on 15 years of being a certified Personal Trainer for me, GEEZ-LOUISE! That’s been one of the professions that has woven in and out of my life, at times finding myself swamped with traditional training clients and then at times finding myself experimenting with new clients who desire a different approach to fitness that encompasses the mind and the spirit, too.
I’m not sure who the “they” are that people are referring to when they say something like, “you know that ‘they’ say you should drink more water” or “you know that ‘they’ say you change professions at least seven times in your life”, but these “they” folk are hitting the nail on the head with me where occupations are concerned. Since moving away from home at age 19, I’ve served in a multitude of professions: Singer/Dancer, office receptionist, western wear hat-shaper-boot-fitter, aerobics instructor, house cleaner, the list goes on…
One thing I’ve always struggled with is not allowing my occupation to define who I am as an individual. My current work finds me serving the community in a very giving manner and it would be really easy to give into doing my clients’ work for them (i.e., leaving a session with someone and not being able to leave behind the troubles or the issues that the client is currently encountering) I used to do that a lot, actually, wanting to help people so badly that I would take on their stuff in some sort of effort to fix it for them…then I would go into my own tailspin and have to unravel why it is that I was feeling so wiped out or so down in the dumps.
These days I allow myself to really stand with my clients in their shoes while we’re together..then as they walk out the door, I lovingly hand them their “stuff” back. I realized that I’m doing them a grave disservice in not allowing them to have their own journey when I try to take on their issues for them! And as they leave our session together, I am gently reminded of my OWN issues that I have to attend to!
