Lord Byron


Shine Bright: Navigating the Storms of Life with Authenticity

This image is in a watercolour style. There is a green landscape at the bottom where a human figure is stood with their back to us with both their arms raised upwards. Tiny flecks of a golden yellow seem to be radiating out from this individual into the sky.
The sky is oranges and reds blending into purple with some clouds. A rainbow is forming and goes out of sight at the top of the image.
The text reads: "Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life, The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints tomorrow with prophetic ray!"(Lord Byron)

Happy Wednesday! Apparently in the US today is Find a Rainbow day, so this seemed the time to have this quote as the quote of the day:

“Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life, The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints tomorrow with prophetic ray!”(Lord Byron)

At its core, this quote resonates deeply with the imagery of a rainbow—a symbol of hope, resilience, and beauty emerging amidst adversity. Just as a rainbow is formed when sunlight refracts through raindrops, our inner light shines brightest when we navigate life’s storms with authenticity and grace.

Reflecting on the quote, I’m drawn to the symbolism of light—from both within and without. It reminds me that when we allow our inner light to shine, it refracts and reflects through our unique selves, touching the lives of those around us in profound ways. It’s when someone lights up, and those around them can feel the difference—a beacon of warmth and authenticity in a world often clouded by darkness.

Lord Byron’s words speak to the transformative power of authenticity and self-expression. It’s not about forcing positivity or happiness, but rather about embracing our true selves unapologetically. When we allow our souls to shine freely, we become beacons of light, capable of dispelling darkness and inspiring others with our warmth and authenticity.

In my coaching practice, I guide my clients to tap into their innate wisdom and resilience, helping them navigate life’s storms with grace and ease. Together, we explore the transformative power of perspective, recognising that our thoughts shape our reality. By cultivating resilience in the face of adversity and inner peace amidst chaos, my clients discover their capacity to envision a future filled with hope and possibility.

Does that mean that once you see this, you never experience insecure thinking again that dims or even seems to totally cover our inner light? Well, there may be someone particularly enlightened in the world that never experiences insecure thinking, but I’ve yet to meet them, and it certainly hasn’t been my experience.

What this understanding does do is make it easier to recognise any insecure thinking for what it is and that it only takes one fresh thought to appear instead and to fall back in touch with our own authentic self.

As far as I can gather, the invite for Find a Rainbow day is to look up into the sky and look for a colourful ray of hope across it. My additional invite is to look for that colourful ray of hope in yourself and others as well.

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.

As an experienced coach and trainer, Jen is happy to utilise all skills at her disposal to assist clients from getting out of their own way and making a difference in the world with their coaching. Find out more about the support Jen offers here.


Are you a magician? 1

“The power of Thought, the magic of the mind!”
(Lord Byron)

A few coaching sessions ago, after the use of a carefully chosen comment, one of my clients accused me of performing magic. Now this isn’t the first time I’ve been accused of doing magic, being a witch or generally possessing supernatural skills during a coaching session.

I’m certainly not claiming to be unique in this – I know I’ve commented to my coaches in the past that if they had lived in a different era they may have been burnt at the stake!

I would like to offer that this isn’t magic, but it can be a magical experience. As a coach I’m not creating an illusion, if anything I’m often challenging illusions that individuals have created for themselves.

One of the things that I am listening for when I coach is the beliefs and the stories that an individual are telling themselves when they describe a situation.

Sometimes, a client will tell me directly, perhaps prompted by a question or a comment from myself as a coach.

On other occasions it’s implied by what they have said – it’s what must be presupposed for a statement or a comment to be true. I’m often looking for what someone must think is true for the experience they are describing to be real for them.

I mentioned challenging illusions earlier and I think that a stumbling block for a coach can be if you “buy into” a client’s illusion and treat it as true. If you do that then you are reducing the number of options that you may take with that client and potentially reducing the effectiveness of your work with that client.

It’s one thing if there is a conscious decision that a different route of questions is where you want to head. It’s another matter all together if that alternative direction of questioning is never even considered.

One of the concerns I can hear from those beginning gaining coaching experience is about what they can do if they ever find themselves stuck for what to say or ask next. While there are several things that you can do, if you ever find yourself “stuck” for the next question then you may want to consider the possibility that you have bought into your clients illusion. It may be that the thing that has you stuck for a question/comment is exactly the same thing that is tripping up your client.