The Reiter Coaching Letter For Creating the Life You Want>
Issue 25	www.stevereiter.com	November 18, 2002

Meteor Shower Alert - Taking Advantage of Now On the front of an old greeting card: Chicken Little (running around in a frenzy): "The sky is falling!  The sky is falling!" Inside:  Buy sky! Dear Friend, You may know this already, but I just couldn't leave to chance that you didn't.  On Tuesday morning, 11/19, people in Western Europe and parts of North America will be in for what is expected to be the most dramatic Leonid meteor shower until 2099!   Though the experience will be partially obscured by the brightness of the moon, it is still expected that we will be able to see on the average of 1 every few seconds.  Predictions from NASA are that the frequency will be greater than last year's incredible storm, which had a US peak of 1300 per hour (and which I chose to miss!). It is predicted there will be two peaks, one visible over Western Europe in their early morning hours on Tuesday morning.  For North America, the peak of the storm is expected around 5:30 to 6:00 on Tuesday morning.  Be aware that the predictions may be off considerably, so get out early to set up, get your eyes adjusted, set up your lounge chairs, and get wrapped up from the cold, and so on, just in case. We may also get a chance to view some of the meteors that glance off the earth's atmosphere during the earlier storm over Europe, which would be visible around 11pm Eastern Monday night.   In Syracuse, where I live, we are always just assuming it will be overcast.  Last year, though, it was clear, and we're hoping for a similar break from the clouds. So, how does this relate to coaching? Good question.  And I'll be brief.   We have our schedule books and our PDA's and our multitude of appointments.  But our lives are not as orderly as we would like them.  All too frequently, our well-planned days and lives are tossed about by what seem like random events.  And we get flustered, distressed, and sometimes... well, frankly, sometimes we get really, really irked. I think that these annoying breakdowns in the predictability of our days are actually "the stuff" of life.  They are some of the best evidence that we are actually a part of a natural process... a process which is most often messy.   And, they might just be the signposts that point us in the direction of claiming more of our lives for ourselves. Examples: Your kids are not only kids, but they have their own minds, to boot!  They choose their own preferences and hope to go by their own schedule most of the time. Your car dies (especially at an untimely moment). It rains, snows, and gets too hot. You're in the rest room at a conference and while washing your hands, you lean up against the sink counter and end up with a wet spot on the front of your clothes.  Oy! Pretty much whatever isn't following along precisely according to your plans is a good example.  Think about it and let me know, won't you? Settling into life as it really is, not just like we would have it be, includes noticing and appreciating the natural world in all its predictability and and all its unpredictability, in all that has been revealed to us and understood and all that remains hidden or unfathomable. Meteor showers.  Well understood phenomena, predictable, and awe-inspiring.  Gotta love 'em. Your turn Let the kids be spontaneous and free from excessive scheduled events.  See what bubbles up. Do the same for yourself.  Create space for yourself bit by bit... if you have to, by saying "No," when asked to volunteer. When distressed by some an intrusion into your pre-planned life, ask yourself: What is my distress keeping me from seeing?  What is poignant in this moment? Get up much too early and hope for clear skies.  Oooooh.   Ahhhhhhh. Check out the links below for more Leonid information. May you not get a crook in your neck -      Steve Resources Here are some links for Leonid-related sites: http://www.space.com/leonids/ It has lots of useful information, including excellent suggestions for viewing the storm. However the site also has lots of annoying pop-ups. http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/1998.html This is a fascinating site for those more curious for the nitty-gritty.  For example, did you know that the trail of dust causing the Western Europe storm was left when the comet passed in 1767 and 1799, while the dust causing the US storm was left predominantly by the comet as it passed by in 1833 and 1866.  At least I think that's what it says. http://news.google.com/news?q=leonid&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nn Links to news articles about the Leonids from around the world.