Confidence

I believe every leader, mentor, and coach needs to show, demonstrate, or prove they add value.  Other roles can be appointed, but leadership and guidance must be earned.  The missing element I often forget about is the gift which comes from those being led.  He, and or she, is giving up control of his/her life, at least a part of it.  They are accepting another’s ideas, values, and priorities; a “trying them on” type of process.  It isn’t enough to listen. 
 
As I reflect, I find a few who will always be influential.  The first coach who gave me a reading list still haunts my steps (in a good way).  I find myself recalling his intensity, passion for life, and commitment to excellence with every choice I make.  We haven’t spoken in years but it is as if he is with me every moment of the day.  I wonder aloud if I will ever win the chess battle with my guide of my early teens.  Even with eternity on my side I doubt I could get a move on him! 
 
It is so easy to assume people will always be in one’s life.  Gifts of friendship, moments of insight, and divine brilliance blend into a mosaic which can be the expected norm.  Yet things can and do change.  Sometimes the change is out of choice.  On other occasions the course in the rivers of our lives seems find their own way.  We may come back together, we may not.
 
With Divinity I have found an experience which adds foundational value to life.  God, through my journey and experience, has been proven.  It is as if I find myself talking aloud to the Spirit.  “Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you.  You won't have to put up with our questions anymore.  We're convinced you came from God.” (John 16.30)  The process is, as in all relationships, mutual.  While God and the Spirit are constant, my commitment and engagement are not.  Confidence is born from engagement.  Now is the moment of choice.