THIS ISSUE'S SUCCESS LINKS Integrating Feminine and Masculine Power in Leadership Sara Harvey Yao, MA and I will be leading this leadership training in Seattle on November 16. Your Business Can Be a Spiritual Path: 5 Practices to Grow Your Soul at Work See what others are saying about my 80-minute audio CD. The Spiritual Watercooler: Where business owners hang out for spiritual refreshment Check out my new blog and post your questions and comments about spirit at work! Amnesty International In keeping with this month's article, visit to learn more Amnesty's phenomenal work for human rights worldwide. I donate 5% of every month's profits to worthy causes, and Amnesty is always one of the recipients.

NEVER TOO LATE
by success and spirit coach Michele Lisenbury Christensen

"Have I fallen off your mailing list?"
"Haven't seen a newsletter in a while... what's going on?"
I've gotten dozens of e-mails from concerned subscribers asking where Success&Spirit has been, and why it's been absent from your in-boxes since... (it pains me to say this) er... June.

When I was first late with the "next" issue, two weeks after my last missive, I thought, "Gotta make sure I get that out next week!" And when that week slipped by as well, I started to become embarrassed. My inner critic started to mutter, "subscribers won't even remember who you are, let alone want to hear from you again!" So the longer the newsletter went un-sent, the greater the embarrassment became. And the heavier that burden of shame became, the LESS likely it became that I'd send a newsletter ever again!

But today's the day. I miss you, and some of you have even been so kind as to say you miss me! So I asked myself, "how does one explain an inexplicable four-month absence? Do I tell them about the never-recorded audio for the ezine I wrote but didn't send and the retreat I planned, launched, and led, and the other adventures of my summer?" I decided against an exhaustive update, though my new blog the spiritual watercooler does talk about our house remodeling and about what I'm learning in business these days. As I looked at how to re-connect, I realized that this is the bottom line: my newsletter procrastination probably isn't too different from SOME dynamic in your life.

Have YOU ever had:

• "late" patient file notes in your medical or psychology practice?
• unsent thank you notes from your baby shower, your birthday, or a big favor, long after the magic seven day mark?
• a phone call to a friend you haven't returned for so long it's shameful?

I myself am such an idea-proliferator, project-starter, and sky-high schemer that I often find myself overextended, overambitious, or just overwhelmed! Maybe you're the same way: you had the idea for a marketing plan you didn't follow through on, so the next idea you come up with, you tell yourself, "No, you'll just flake out on this one, too!" Or you invested in new training or the development of a new product, but stopped mid-way through leveraging it.

Our social negligence brings a heavy burden as well: we don't call a friend for months. Then it seems there's no reasonable way to start the conversation if we were to call. What's more, we may tell ourselves, "I don't have enough time for a proper conversation," so we keep putting it off waiting for a bigger chunk of time. Or we're so late on a thank you note or a birthday card that... well, why bother, now?

Embarrassing delays in re-connecting or in completing projects we've started are a fact of life in our busy world. And I think what we all need, to get us back on track, is just what I've given myself in order to write this issue of Success&Spirit: amnesty from shame. Amnesty, dictionary.com says, means "an act of clemency by an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted."

I do believe amnesty is the appropriate word for us to use here: by my own authority, in a compassionate act of clemency, I hereby grant myself pardon. I'm free to send this e-zine out. I forgive myself for being how I am and doing what I've done. I'm back, and I'm letting go of the water that's passed under this bridge.

I love it when the library has those "Overdue Fee Amnesty" periods: "Hey!" they're saying. "Just bring the books back...No questions asked, no fees charged. You're off the hook; just gimme the book!"

But social graces and marketing taboos are contrived by society, and I think they limit us in ways we're not meant to be limited. If we look to aspects of the universe outside the snares of human social convention, we can see an abundance of permission for cycles, dormancy, and re-birth.

Bears hibernate. In the Pacific Northwest where I live, trees lose their leaves and do very little "marketing" or "productivity" for several months in the winter. Ocean tides go in and out, and weather patterns change from year to year. Why should humans alone, in all of nature, be on a consistently upward trajectory, marching lock-step into the future, with no room for lapses, fallow periods, or organic delays in our plans?

The only "law" keeping us tied to the tyranny of "be on time or be ashamed" is within ourselves. And that's why I believe you and I need, by our own authority, amnesty – pardon – for the things we've not completed, responded to, or acted upon in the timeframe we though we ought to. Our businesses' best interests are served when we drop the burden of embarrassment and shame and take the actions that are still needed, even if we're already too late according to the despotic regime in our heads. And people – our true friends, our best colleagues, and the customers for whom we are a true gift – are thrilled to hear from us – even if our silence has been puzzling in the interim – whenever we DO reconnect.

Best of all: by pardoning ourselves, we pardon others. By taking the step that is "too late" by harsh rules, we bring a breath of fresh air to those around us. We give them the same permission we're giving ourselves: permission to be as we are...permission to be human. What better way to be of service?

I wish you freedom and peace. The world needs what you have to offer, even if (like me) you're a shining example of what humanity looks like – sometimes disorganized, sometimes procrastinating, and far from perfect. We're still wonderful businesspeople, friends, and community members when we give ourselves the clemency we need to move forward. And when we do move forward, the permission to progress, at a human pace, becomes contagious. Let's spread the amnesty!

Until next time,
may the light within you illuminate the world around you.

          Blessings,

Michele Lisenbury Christensen
Success and Spirit Coach

© 2005 Michele Lisenbury Christensen. All rights reserved. Feel free to or re-publish, with the following copyright and contact information attached:
"By Michele Lisenbury Christensen, MA, PCC, Success and Spirit Coach. Please visit http://www.successandspirit.com for additional articles, interviews, and resources for creating sustainable success and spiritual connection." (Please make sure the link is live if placed in an e-mail or web page)

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