I am a big The Walking Dead (TWD) fan. In short, it is my favourite TV show. The series ticks all the boxes for me (and one of them is not just necessarily zombie culling..) as I see parallels between the show, and life as we know and live it now.
Hardly a revelation but read on...
Survival is obviously one of the key themes of the series. So many of the characters in this TV show fall back into old patterns of living and thinking...or more to the point, existing and living in fear (fair enough I guess when you are surrounded by zombies and lunatics with guns who are all hungry and want to kill you..).
The latest TWD season (2016) sees the arrival of Negan and the Saviours, and how they have created a culture and a network of fear, greed and oppression.
The result has been, at least to this point, that the people who have been oppressed and pulled into this regime, have given up on their lives as they were. Their hopes and aspirations have all but been forgotten, as they fit into this reality of fear, under the illusion that they are somehow safe or secure - that this is now their best or only option of how to live their lives.
Sometimes this approach is necessary in life. There are times when we simply have to do what needs to be done, to conform, or to just get on with things as they are, or as they appear to be, as we move towards creating opportunities and a life that is more in alignment to who it is we are, and what we want or need.
These times can be character building and are important.
From a coaching perspective, it is a great example of how many of us live our lives - at least to varying degrees.
We fail to see options. We stay in a relationship or a situation because it appears to be the best...or only option for us. We stay in a job because we see it as the best or only option for now.
But back to the TWD series. At the halfway point of this new series there has been a shift - a consciousness shift. A living situation that was deemed to be impossible or hopeless or unworkable, has now opened up to a possibility that things could change. At the end of the last episode, we see a group of people who embraced each other and realised that they are/were indeed not living with hope - they were simply existing and spiralling into fear based living.
This fear closed them off to possibilities. It made them weak. Their self esteem and confidence diminished. They kept working harder and longer for less reward....until finally something happened...something clicked.
Life is like that. We can hold back in our lives. We can be too cautious or too security centric. We live in fear without understanding that while we do that..we will still be living in fear. Something, or more to the point, someone, has to change to flip the switch and see life in a different light or a different way.
Coaching helps people see beyond their current world/reality view. It helps people see the existing possibilities and probabilities in their lives, and it unearths new ones. There comes a time in all of our lives, when we understand that we have self imposed limitations, that we have blind spots, that we have beliefs and opinions that no longer serve us - they hold us back from experiencing a better life.
It often takes a catalyst, an awareness, or one of those aha! or eureka moments that awakens us to a wider view. Richard Bach once said that; "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."
On a parting note, in the world of The Walking Dead, I see the zombies as being those among us who have not awakened to, or acknowledged, our true selves or calling.
We wander aimlessly through life, slowly decaying, always searching, following each other endlessly - without the knowledge or awareness that we are much, much more than that.
Are you flying yet as Bach intimated..or are you still wrapped up safely in your cocoon somewhere...?
As this attached Walking Dead video excerpt and Negan annotation clearly illustrates and echoes;
"Not making a decision is a BIIIIIIIIIIIG decision."
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Craig Hedge is a Professional Coach and Lifestyle Mentor based in Hobart (nipaluna), Tasmania, Australia. He is author of the Instinctive Living self-help book series available on Amazon.