Calling bullshit.
‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’.
Bullshit.
Let’s kick that into touch for a start.
What doesn’t kill you can still hurt like hell.
It can break your spirit.
It can destroy your self-confidence.
It can make you scared to try again.
It can darken your world.
It can snuff out your deepest joy.
It hurts.
Sometimes the ‘thing that isn’t killing you’ crushes you for years. Gradually it inflicts its pain.
A dream not followed.
A friendship betrayed.
A self-doubt that stops you every single time you want to risk a major step.
Sometimes the ‘thing that isn’t killing you’ feels like a hammer blow anyway.
Some periods of life are hammer blow after hammer blow after hammer blow.
I’m in one of those periods now, and no toxically positive platitude is going to make me glad for each hammer blow.
I am not glad for what I’m learning. I want it to stop.
There are two constants I hold to when things are hard.
The first is the wonder I daily feel at the natural world. Birds, wind, stars, rain, trees.
The other is the depthless joy I get from mentoring and coaching people who, like me, are facing darkness and choosing to believe in light.
False and toxic positivity doesn’t help. To withstand ’the thing that isn’t killing you’ takes courage, resilience and a willingness to reach out and connect.
If you’re an artist, performer, educator, creative, spiritual worker — or even if these words just talk to you — and you want to explore how coaching or artistic mentorship might help you regain focus, calm and courage, reach out to me.
We’ll talk.
After thirty years performing, directing and teaching around the world, now I coach and mentor artists and others to live in joy and creativity. I also still perform sometimes.
I recently published a free training ‘How to make BIG decisions when you feel really stuck’. It’s a PDF and video. Get your copy here.
More information about me here: www.johnbritton.co
Email: [email protected]