What If You Loved Winter? What If You Loved Yourself?

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
~Albert Camus

To Know Me Is To Love Me

It's true
If you knew me
You would love me

Really know me
Experience my heart
My heart for you
My heart for the world

It's bursting
Out of control
Beyond belief
For you
And now
For myself

I deserve my life
A life of amazingness
I am grabbing it
By knowing me
Really knowing me
Fully experiencing myself

My fears
My drive
My heart
My purpose
My desires
My emotions

To know me
Is to love me

by Ken Carlson More poetry here

Authentic Development is Growing!

Grand Opening of Geneva Office on January 24th
Authentic Development has opened a new office in the heart of downtown Geneva, IL near the corner of State and 3rd.

Join us for free drinks and appetizers on January 24th from 5-7pm at Stockholm's Brew Pub which is directly below us.

Downtown Chicago at The University Club
Authentic Development has also joined The University Club of Chicago which is located across from Millenium Park.

Contact Ken at 847.873.9559 if you live or work in the city. We'll buy you a drink in the Presidents' Bar or have lunch at the Front Grill.

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Winter Wellness Retreat

February 4th in Geneva, IL

Join us for a much needed day of rejuvenation with Yoga (no experience necessary), Healthy Eating workshop, Discovering Your Truest Life, Qigong meditation, and Soundscape Wellness.

More details and sign-up here!

From the Blog: Loving Winter

Today is January 9th and it still hasn't gotten that cold here in the Chicago area. We've had a few mornings with some slight flurries and some temperatures in the low teens—but frankly not that many. I am still running in shorts several times per week and haven't seen a reason to switch to tights yet. What a gift.

This, however, might be a problem. Winter—snow—AND—cold—is important. Important for the trees. Important for the pollen count next summer. Important for creating a great deal of snow melt for the spring. Winter strengthens our world—makes it more resilient to disease. Winter kills off bacteria. Winter enhances the circle of life and participates in evolution by killing off the weakest of the animals—leaving the strongest and smartest to survive and create another generation.

Winter is a good metaphor for life. It represents death and dying in our lives. Death is needed.

No matter what anyone says, no one enjoys the pain and discomfort of howling wind and bitter cold. We enjoy the fireplace when we get back to the house—but the cold seeps into our marrow and makes us cold at our core. Getting let go by the company you trusted with your future is like that. Failing miserably while chasing your dreams is like that. Hearing the doctor tell you that you have cancer is like that. Discovering your children are into drugs is like that. Divorce is like that. Losing a parent is like that.

So now what? Winter is coming—if it isn't already here for you. How do you respond to winter? How do you respond to not being in control. How do you respond to the depth of emptiness that comes when you realize that you can't make it better? You can't fix it?

What is it that your really want for your own life?

You're ambitious.
You're successful.
It seems you have a pretty good life.
You know though--that everything isn't what it seems.

We tend to do the same things over and over again in our lives expecting different results. We chase the dreams of our 20s only to find in our 40s that none of those things really mattered. What we really wanted was a life of joy. A life of friendship. A life of adventure.

Instead, we find ourselves living for someone else's idea of a perfect life.

Try coaching.

Coaching changes lives. Coaching will bring you new discoveries. Coaching works! Give us a call or drop us a line. We'd like to provide a kick-ass, fighting for your heart, no holds barred coaching session. We guarantee that you will be called to action on something critical in your life and that call will come directly from inside you. Learn more...