THE ARENA
Living a Courageous Life Podcast
“I'm not doing this because it's easy. I'm doing this because it's hard.”
Created by Linda McLachlan Coaching & Consulting. Let’s get started.
HOST, PRODUCER, EDITOR: Linda McLachlan
I blew up my life: career, relationship, home, booze, fitness and lifestyle. I couldn’t be happier.
A daily dose of courage led to extraordinary change.
Join me for this podcast as diverse guests share how they show up consciously, courageously to embrace their life.
Sometimes the hardest part, is showing up.
land acknowledgment
I acknowledge that the City of Hamilton, where I record this podcast is situated upon the traditional first nations territories of the Erie Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, Mississaugas and the Chonodon of the so-called ‘Neutral’ tribes. Hamilton is also directly adjacent to the Haldimand Treaty territory.
This land is covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, which extends between Montreal and Fort Erie . It was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe. That wampum uses the symbolism of a ‘dish’ to represent the territory and ‘one spoon’ to represent that the people are to share the resources of the land and only take what they need.
Hamilton is home to many Indigenous Peoples from across Turtle Island. And this Land Acknowledgment is a small gesture to recognize the rich history of this land. And so that I can better understand my role as a settlor, as well as a neighbor, partner and caretaker.
I stand in solidarity with all those that fight for justice on behalf of the murdered and missing indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ+, and two-spirited people.
I grieve the generational trauma created by the residential ‘school’ system and the 60's Scoop.
I grieve the children and childhoods lost through ignorance and racism.
Miigwetch, Thank you.
The Man In the Arena
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
~ Theodore Roosevelt
Linda McLachlan
In 2018, I was at a turning point. I needed to make some decisions about the next phase of my life. I had lived ‘this way’ for many years and I was at a very low ebb. It was coming up to the Labour Day Weekend - a weekend that has, since my school days, brought the feeling of “new beginnings”. The new grade, the new pencil crayons, books, clothes, and the sense of possibility. But my many attempts at ‘turning things around’ had failed. I was stuck.
As an intermittent ‘practicer’ of meditation and mindfulness, I came across a weekend retreat that allowed me to unplug and do some deep reflection. Out of this experience came the clarity and strength I needed to make a number of decisions: to leave the business I had helped build over 10 years, to ultimately leave my partner, move out, and quit drinking. All of this happened over roughly 8 months. I later recognized it as “living in faith rather than certainty”. Over time, I gathered the external help I needed from my own coach, counselor, and the internal practices of daily meditation, reading and writing.
None of this was easy. It was not. I was bruised and bloodied, and ‘in the arena’, as one of my favourite writers, Brené Brown has referenced through much of her writing. She introduced me to The Man in the Arena speech by Theodore Roosevelt which is the inspiration for my podcast.
At the same time, I had re-discovered aspects of myself, like an old onion, under layers and layers of husks. Not new but hidden away, happy to burst forth.
Thank you for listening to: THE ARENA.
Linda McLachlan
If you want help showing up more purposefully and courageously, I’d be happy to help. Please visit: www.lindamclachlan.com
PS: Feedback on the episodes is welcome. Thank you. Please share, subscribe or send me a note: linda at lindamclachlan dot com