Illinois Valley Life Coaching

07/26/2025

At the end of the day, love and companionship is the answer...

05/14/2025

The Yellow Light- 2015

As I was driving my 10 year-old daughter Sophia to school this morning, I sped up to get through a Yellow traffic light. She shot me a look of concern and disapproval. Then out of her mouth came: “Mom, you just sped!” Now it was my turn to use that moment to share some brilliant parenting advice to my little 5th grade sponge. “Oh yes, I had to Giddy Up and Go so I could get through that yellow light!” Sophia responded: “I thought a Yellow Light meant Slow Down…”
Well, I said, it can mean either speed up or slow down depending on the circumstance. I was going too fast on this 55 mph road to slam on my breaks and stop at the light, so I had to make a quick decision to get through the intersection in the safest way I thought possible at that moment. Now, if I was going a bit slower and had some time to make a stop safely, then I would have made that choice and slowed down.
She didn’t say much after that and I imagine her mind wandered back to the baby chicks that are soon about to hatch in her class.
What occurred to me is that so much of our life and decision-making happens in those critical moments of intersections and at crossroads.
We have to make a quick decision to move forward or slow down, which will ultimately determine the result down the road. Making a good choice in that moment can lead to future benefits and making a poor choice in that moment could lead to a troubling consequence, similar to a car crash or a traffic violation.
How good are you at making decisions in the moment that prove beneficial or do you panic and deal with future consequences? Just like driving a car takes practice, so does gaining comfort with making good choices in stressful moments. That skill is so valuable, because we live most of our lives navigating through the Yellow Light.

05/14/2025

The Yellow Light- 2015

As I was driving my 10 year-old daughter Sophia to school this morning, I sped up to get through a Yellow traffic light. She shot me a look of concern and disapproval. Then out of her mouth came: “Mom, you just sped!” Now it was my turn to use that moment to share some brilliant parenting advice to my little 5th grade sponge. “Oh yes, I had to Giddy Up and Go so I could get through that yellow light!” Sophia responded: “I thought a Yellow Light meant Slow Down…”
Well, I said, it can mean either speed up or slow down depending on the circumstance. I was going too fast on this 55mph road to slam on my breaks and stop at the light, so I had to make a quick decision to get through the intersection in the safest way I thought possible at that moment. Now, if I was going a bit slower and had some time to make a stop safely, then I would have made that choice and slowed down.
She didn’t say much after that and I imagine her mind wandered back to the baby chicks that are soon about to hatch in her class.
What occurred to me is that so much of our life and decision-making happens in those critical moments of intersections and at crossroads.
We have to make a quick decision to move forward or slow down, which will ultimately determine the result down the road. Making a good choice in that moment can lead to future benefits and making a poor choice in that moment could lead to a troubling consequence, similar to a car crash or a traffic violation.
How good are you at making decisions in the moment that prove beneficial or do you panic and deal with future consequences? Just like driving a car takes practice, so does gaining comfort with making good choices in stressful moments. That skill is so valuable, because we live most of our lives navigating through the Yellow Light.

04/08/2025

Every time we make a choice, we have the opportunity to move either closer to our values or farther away from them. What will you choose today?

01/30/2025

Vision Board Night 2025 "Snip & Sip" was a great success! Thank you to all who participated and made it a wonderful event. Now go get those Goals ❣️

10/17/2024

Autumn is my favorite time of year. It is a great time to review your 2024 goals and to start creating vision for 2025.

08/01/2021

Helpful thoughts for career choices...

06/10/2021

This is a hard one sometimes and takes lots of intention and practice!

You can't control your feelings. You can control your response.