Normal is a perception

Last night my daughter asked me what’s up with North Korea.  Random question yes, but she asked because she had heard that it’s not a place you’d be able to go on holiday.  I explained that life was very different there and explained, with my limited knowledge, what life is like.  She responded with a reasonable question, why don’t people leave?

I explained that for most people they did not know of any other way of being, the press, the education, the culture, the books and news were all highly regulated so they only knew of their normal, that other cultures and ways of being were perceived as negative, and those that did want to live another way were silenced through fear.

Then I realised that we were no different here in the “free” world.

Is our freedom based on fear?

Our normal is founded on freedom, yet we are continuing to live in fear.  Perhaps the echoes of fear are still ingrained from the war years, or the echoes of suppression, power, security and stability.  It is proven that are genes are changed by our environment, and perhaps the levels of fear we have lived in for so long has turned on our stress, anxiety and fear genes to such an extent that we don’t know of any other way to live.

Living with constant stress, anxiety and fear causes us to live with cortisol streaming through our bodies that we don’t recognise that it is hindering rather than helping us.  We see the symptoms showing up as depression, stress, addiction, isolation and conflict.  Yet by simply changing our environment or behaviours, we can lower our cortisol and increase our happy hormones.

Thankfully I am part of an international community that works with people, teams, organisations and societies to shift our normal from fear to openness, from mistrust to trust, from isolation to connection.  Coaches around the world are helping others to understand their behavioural patterns and to seek new ways of thinking, being and doing.

Living in stress

Stress hormones create stress reactions.  In times of stress we lock down, we judge, we fear, we isolate and compete.  This creates unhealthy cultures, families, relationships and organisations.  Learning new methods and techniques to communicate, think and act will in turn evoke our happy hormones.  In this place, we can tap into our deep wisdom, clarity, certainty, connection and because it feels good, we want to do it more.

We know this intrinsically, but because our perception of normal is the fear and stress, we often need coaches to help us open our perspectives and to question and to create our own new normal.

I, as part of the international coaching community, am so inspired by conversations and stories of transformational change that really does create echoes. Each time we help an individual or a team to tap into their wisdom and clarity and reduce their fear and stress, the ripple effect cast across teams, businesses, families, relationships and communities.

So, from a simple question of North Korea, I ask you what normal are you contributing to in your life?

Last night my daughter asked me what’s up with North Korea. Random question yes, but she asked because she had heard that it’s not a place you’d be able to go on holiday. I explained that life was very different there and explained, with my limited knowledge, what life is like. She responded with a reasonable question, why don’t people leave?
Normal is a perception
Last night my daughter asked me what’s up with North Korea. Random question yes, but she asked because she had heard that it’s not a place you’d be able to go on holiday. I explained that life was very different there and explained, with my limited knowledge, what life is like. She responded with a reasonable question, why don’t people leave?
I explained that for most people they did not know of any other way of being, the press, the education, the culture, the books and news were all highly regulated so they only knew of their normal, that other cultures and ways of being were perceived as negative, and those that did want to live another way were silenced through fear.
Then I realised that we were no different here in the “free” world.
Is our freedom based on fear?
Our normal is founded on freedom, yet we are continuing to live in fear. Perhaps the echoes of fear are still ingrained from the war years, or the echoes of suppression, power, security and stability. It is proven that are genes are changed by our environment, and perhaps the levels of fear we have lived in for so long has turned on our stress, anxiety and fear genes to such an extent that we don’t know of any other way to live.
Living with constant stress, anxiety and fear causes us to live with cortisol streaming through our bodies that we don’t recognise that it is hindering rather than helping us. We see the symptoms showing up as depression, stress, addiction, isolation and conflict. Yet by simply changing our environment or behaviours, we can lower our cortisol and increase our happy hormones.
Thankfully I am part of an international community that works with people, teams, organisations and societies to shift our normal from fear to openness, from mistrust to trust, from isolation to connection. Coaches around the world are helping others to understand their behavioural patterns and to seek new ways of thinking, being and doing.
Living in stress
Stress hormones create stress reactions. In times of stress we lock down, we judge, we fear, we isolate and compete. This creates unhealthy cultures, families, relationships and organisations. Learning new methods and techniques to communicate, think and act will in turn evoke our happy hormones. In this place, we can tap into our deep wisdom, clarity, certainty, connection and because it feels good, we want to do it more.
We know this intrinsically, but because our perception of normal is the fear and stress, we often need coaches to help us open our perspectives and to question and to create our own new normal.
I, as part of the international coaching community, am so inspired by conversations and stories of transformational change that really does create echoes. Each time we help an individual or a team to tap into their wisdom and clarity and reduce their fear and stress, the ripple effect cast across teams, businesses, families, relationships and communities.
So, from a simple question of North Korea, I ask you what normal are you contributing to in your life?