I was sitting in a park recently watching my children play with their grandparents and all at once I heard this deep, booming voice from a distance say, “You must make contact if you want to stay in the game.” I turned to my left and saw a coach working with a girl’s softball team – instructing them on their swing and explaining the importance of making contact between the bat and ball at just the right moment.
This made me think about the idea of contact. For me, contact is about making connections in the relationships I care about – both personally and professionally. If you look up connection in the dictionary, its meaning is “linking things together, the joining of two or more parts or people.” How are you linking people, things, and places together in your life? Are you connecting on a regular basis with yourself, your mind, your body, your relationships, and your creativity?
Given our busy lives as women, we have to be very intentional about making contact with others. Whatever path you choose as a woman – be it career-focused, family-focused, or an integration of the two, making contact and connections is important. Why? Because connecting is vital to our survival in this game called living a meaningful life.
I have the good fortune to spend quality time with many smart women. One of the things they all have in common is a great support system. From friends, family, colleagues, coaches, mentors – these women are clear that making contact and connecting is essential to their success on every level. Smart women know that a solid support system makes the painful times in life bearable, the stressful times more manageable, and the good times all the richer because they are shared.
I recently returned from a retreat with one of my Women’s Success Circles where we spent time connecting with ourselves and with each other, and also making plans about the parts of our lives we wanted to become more intentional about. Each women created a vision for the next chapter of her life including who, what, and how she wanted to connect or “make contact” with the people in her world. When we are clear and focused about who we intentionally want to connect with, we become more present, lighter, and happier. Having a vision of what our next chapter will be – and who will be in it – is key to a meaningful life.
This newsletter, Reflections, is one of the ways I stay connected with clients and friends and I hope it serves to connect women everywhere with one another. After you’ve read this issue, please be sure to forward it to other women (yet another way to connect – sharing information).
As summer begins to wane and you open your door to autumn, think about the connections and relationships that are so vital to your life. Because, remember – you must make contact to stay in the game!
Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.
© 2008 Joy Chudacoff
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