Gracie ponders

Early summer I was approached by Perry Ashley to participate in a women’s Christian based 5 week life study and upon finishing it, -write a blog about the experience! I said yes! Right away, and then like I sometimes do, thought hmmmm what will this be and did I prematurely say yes not knowing one thing about the study…. this is how Perry and I met… My husband and I and another couple took over an unusual youth leader predicament at our church First Presbyterian in our hometown. we felt that we were kids ourselves at age 24, but we gave it a whirl and I was instantly impressed with young Perry that acted and thought as a young adult as well as a very mature thinking Christian. She continued to amaze me as she did well in college and became a physical therapist and later married Joe Ashley, a terrific guy that my husband had known for years

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Fast forward many years and 3 children later for Perry and Joe and I heard they were moving to Wisconsin. I called her right away to tell her I had lived in Wisconsin several years in my early teens and I was checking to see if she had gone crazy… “Perry, I said, don’t do it, it’s freeezzzzing there. My mom went bonkers up there. Moisture will freeze in your nose, your toes will go numb, however there are three glorious weather months in summer but that’s it. Needless to say she did not heed my warnings. She even home schools. Omg…

Perry continues to amaze because she became a certified life break-through coach and in addition is the founder of a business called The Other Side of Gray.

Perry coaches women in their 40s and beyond who have lost their identity, purpose or direction. Regardless of age, she helps them rediscover their values, strengths, talents and passions and helps them redesign their life to embrace how God made them and to live out a more passion-filled, purpose-filled, and peace-filled life.

What coaches are not: Coaches are not therapists or counselors who deal with the past and healing. Coaches are not mentors who help you replicate what they did. Coaches are not consultants who solve problems and provide expertise.

Perry writes : Have you had time to reflect on your life to gain clarity, perspective and clearly uncover how God has worked in you and through you.? Here’s your opportunity to join a community of women who will encourage and support you through “The journey of You” a 5-week online workshop thru zoom. You will also receive e-files and access to a private Facebook group and 1 coaching session. Perry also offers coaching sessions just one on one they

She asks, do you stop yourself from striving to reach your goals because they may require you to stretch or that we may fear failure. Ahhh yes, we all have things we would like to achieve but hold back for some reason……

Ultimately, Perry envisions a world full of women in midlife and beyond who have rediscovered themselves, rejuvenated their dreams and transformed their lives…living with purpose, passion and peace.

Her passion is to help mature women embrace their season of life and become the best version of themselves through discovering how God uniquely designed them by examining their values, strengths, gifts and personality. Once a deep self-awareness is achieved, she challenges and encourages them to live in alignment with their passion and purpose. 

Walking people through where they currently are, seeing where they want to go, identifying and overcoming obstacles and establishing an action plan is not new for Perry. She has converted these skills developed over the past 26 years of being a physical therapist to her life coaching career. She sees that no matter what age we are or what season of life we find ourselves, we have value and have much to offer. Having gone through several major life changes, she understands how women can feel lost (whether in identity, purpose or direction), but also understands how to get through their circumstances and to truly live an intentional and impactful life againAfter becoming a Certified Life Breakthrough Coach, she continues to gain new skills by taking advanced training in Positive Intelligence, a research based mental fitness program. She is super excited about using these powerful techniques, as well as scripture, to help her clients boost the amount of time their mind is acting as a friend versus an enemy.

This is one of my favorite statements she makes : We let fear and limiting our beliefs stunt our growth and our potential.

Before we allow that to happen, she adds, let’s ask ourselves,what is the worst that can happen if we step out to pursue those goals? Would failure be the worst? but, what golden nuggets can be gleamed from this failure”. but what if we succeed, what will that look like, imagine the possibilities.

So, the way this worked was every Monday evening for five weeks, a group of ten women from all over the country turned on their computers and connected with zoom but also connected as women, mothers, not mothers, married, divorced, careers, or not, but we all connected in some way because we do not want to be stagnant in our thinking, we want to delve in how we think as a Christian, as a mature! Woman ! And the most important part is how we have evolved from all the many outside influences from childhood to now. What shaped us, from the hardships to the best of times. We are all unique and perfectly made by God .

Included in my life coaching five week series was a counseling zoom session with Perry. Years ago I went to a therapist . There’s no shame there. Many people can not invision laying it all out there for someone to dissect. I feel that I should have done it years ago. I had a 45 min session that thankfully Perry did not cut me off at my 45 min. Anyone that knows me knows that I can go on and on and on….but I divulged it all…everything on the table, I laughed and cried and reflected on my good times and bad. When it was over Perry Ashley gave me what I deem to be the greatest compliment I’ve ever received, or maybe peace of mind statement … she said:

You know what word comes to mind about you after hearing all you have told me? I said, well there have been many words used in 57 years to describe me, but some were great and some did not need to be said over zoom!ha . She said the magic word to me I’ll never forget. She said,

YOU ARE RESILIENT….

Boom, that is my million dollar compliment, or observation by a life coach. I’ll take it and run with it. That day I stood taller, I felt proud, I felt confident. I needed that. The great thing about taking my group class that was called The Journey of you, uncovering your God-story was that Perry gives advice and life lessons thru bible scripture.i mean how can you argue with that.its like having a life coach, Sunday school teacher, therapist and ten friends on zoom all in one. I strongly recommend this especially right now when we are in the 6 month of covid because I don’t know about you but I was feeling disconnected. Not going to church, not socializing etc. I needed a feeling of community. If you would like to get in touch with Perry Ashley to participate in getting steps toward inner Peace you can email her at:

coach@theothersideofgray.com

http://www.theothersideofgray.com/ Is the link to her website.

Also you can follow her on Her Facebook theothersideofgraylifecoach

Perry is a wife, a mother of three and is active in her church and other mission work. As a life-long learner, she not only enjoys reading and discovering new truths, she seeks respite in the outdoors by camping, boating, backpacking and participating in wilderness adventures.

#christian

#lifecoach

#women

#midlife

#God