{"id":27,"date":"2014-05-12T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T14:07:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-10-16T18:57:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T18:57:54","slug":"how-little-did-i-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/?p=27","title":{"rendered":"How little did I know!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nThe first time we meet, she\u2019s standing patiently petite and
\nunassuming, waiting for me to come and greet her at the reception desk.  <\/span>I can see from a distance that she\u2019s
\ncasually yet deliberately scanning through the wall that\u2019s full of the team\u2019s
\npictures.  <\/span>This makes me
\nrealise how observant my new coach is.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nI unintentionally interrupt her observations. As she catches my
\nglimpse from the corner of her eye, she twists her body towards me and smiles.  <\/span>I walk closer. I instantly feel her
\nwarm, welcoming energy. Petite as she is, she has a great presence \u2013 one that
\nis noticeable.  <\/span>She\u2019s one of
\nthose whose presence blends in with whatever atmosphere and makes you become
\npart of the space – body, mind and soul.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\nWe both smile and exchange a friendly look as if we were long-time
\ncompanions.  <\/span>We neither hug
\nnor shake hands \u2013 we just connect.  <\/span>Actually
\nthere are no introductions \u2013 we quickly dive into a conversation about how she
\nalmost got lost driving down Jan Smuts Drive towards Pinelands.  <\/span>I lead her to my office, offer her a
\nseat and dash out to get her the black-no-sugar cup of tea she requests. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/u1:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nAs I walk back to my office with two cups of tea – one mine, the
\nother hers – I observe her through the glass and I notice that she\u2019s on her
\nfeet, candidly scanning the surroundings.  <\/span>She has even looked at some of my
\nphotographs on top of the cupboard.   <\/span>She politely inquires about the people
\nin the <\/span>photographs.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe session starts without me realising.  <\/span>Throughout our conversation we touch
\non different topics: childhood, marriage, divorce, motherhood, love, work and
\nintimacy, partnerships \u2013 there\u2019s no moment of silence.  <\/span>Her sense of humour, her genuine
\nlaughter and the light approach makes it easy for me to open up so the
\nconversation flows than I ever imagined. <\/span>During
\nthe session she subtly challenges some of my ideas, she interrogates my
\napproach to conflict, and she brings <\/span>new
\nawareness into the way I perceive the Self.  <\/span>She also shares with me how she got
\nmarried at the age of 21, went through a divorce, remarried, became a widow and
\nnow, remarried again, shares her life with a man who understands her and mostly
\nunderstands her strong need for her \u201cme-time\u201d.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/u1:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nBefore we know it, two hours have passed and she has to honour her
\nnext coaching session.  <\/span>Before
\nI walk her out, I thank her. <\/span> We
\nstand face to face and smile.  <\/span>We
\nexchange a friendly look – this time, with a hug as warm and genuine as if we
\nwere long time companions \u2013 silently acknowledging the perfect timing of our
\nmeeting.  <\/span>\u201cWe could not have
\nmet at a better time in my life\u201d I say once she\u2019s gone.  <\/span>Just when I am in the process of
\nmaking life-changing decisions – decisions that impact not only my life, but
\nthe lives of others. When the student is ready, the teacher appears!  <\/span>And there I was living my life
\nthinking that my days of being a student are over. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHow little did I know!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time we meet, she\u2019s standing patiently petite and unassuming, waiting for me to come and greet her at the reception desk.  I can see from a distance that she\u2019s casually yet deliberately scanning through the wall that\u2019s full of the team\u2019s pictures.  This makes me realise how observant my new coach is. I unintentionally interrupt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions\/100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsonsoil.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}