Men and Relationships

Ever since the women's movement began, women have empowered themselves through self-help books, classes, therapy, and TV shows such as Oprah, the Lifetime Network and much more. Women have been stepping up to the plate, taking responsibility for their lives, their jobs and their relationships. In all of this, men have disappeared. Well, guess what guys? It's time for us to step up to the plate and start living consciously and responsibly in our relationships.

Three years ago I started on a path of self-discovery when my marriage of 14 years ended. The last year we were together I was clueless that anything was wrong. After it was over, I not only realized how irresponsible I had been to the relationship, and myself but I had gone into it for all the wrong reasons. In a nutshell, I was looking for her to be my savior, take care of me, heal my past wounds, be a nurse maid, friend and mother all rolled into one. And it didn't work. Since then I have noticed that very few of us consciously know why we enter into relationships.

Try asking yourself these questions and see what answers you come up with. Obviously this applies to women also!

*What reasons did I have for entering into a relationship?

*What are my expectations in my relationships?

*What do I resent about my partner?

*What trade offs do I make in my relationships?

*What values do I hold within myself in personal relationships?

All of this has brought me to a relatively new field called co-active coaching. The actual practice of personal and professional coaching began around twenty years ago as a combination of mentoring, consulting and family adviser. Co-active coaching is different in that it is a designed relationship based on the client's needs, values, goals and vision, not the coach's. As each desire or goal is defined, the coach will help you decide on specific action, holding you accountable and helping you move in that direction. Coaching differs from counseling, therapy or mentoring in that it approaches a person as already creative, resourceful and whole and having the answers. A coach just helps draw the answers and solutions into awareness.

Imagine what it would be like to have someone listen to you, with your focus and dreams in mind, in a nonjudgmental way, weekly for thirty or forty five minutes at a time? As a professional life coach, all that is said between coach and client is held in strictest confidence.

Kirk Kline is a trained life coach who works with teenagers on self esteem, goal setting skills and how to make positive choices in their lives. He also coaches parents on how to have the type of relationship they want with their kids, as well as how to coach them. Kirk lives and works in Orlando, Florida and will be relocating to the Atlanta area in July.

For more information, or to find out how he can help, go to http://www.risensuncoaching.com.