Ann Ranson, Coach, Facilitator, and Consultant

The Angel of Education

I promise I don’t peek when I draw the Angel for us each month. But this one is perfect, as many of you have children or grandchildren who have just returned to school.

I’ve always loved fall.

The weather cools—eventually, even in Texas—school reopens, and the State Fair of Texas returns.

For me, life on Earth is a school. We come here to learn and grow, building on lessons we may—or may not—have learned in previous lifetimes.

That’s exciting!

I’ve long felt that I want to make the most of my learning because I don’t know what my next life will bring.

This life has given me so many tools for living well. Life may not always be a bowl of cherries, but I have practices, perspectives, and wisdom that help me navigate the rough waters.

Learning new ways to understand and process life is rewarding.

So, in the spirit of Education, let’s look for the lessons hidden within our daily lives—and consider how they might help us experience greater purpose and meaning.

To your journey!

With love,
Ann

Many women I know have spent decades being capable, dependable and willing to do whatever needed to be done.

We learned to work hard. To push through. To carry the responsibility.

As Labor Day approaches, I find myself wondering whether the next chapter might ask something different of us: not how much more we can do, but 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Work can still be meaningful without requiring us to prove ourselves through effort.

That feels like something worth celebrating this weekend.

Have you lost touch with a part of yourself?

Not completely. Not forever. But perhaps there is a wise, powerful, intuitive part of you that has been quiet for a while — covered over by responsibility, noise, expectations, or simply the pace of life.

On September 20, I’ll be sharing Permission to Reclaim the Goddess Within at DFW Crystals.

This workshop is an engaging experience for remembering the sacred, intuitive, and powerful woman within you — and listening for what she is ready to reclaim now.

Through reflection, gentle meditation, and meaningful conversation, we’ll reconnect with inner wisdom, quiet the noise that has kept her hidden, and listen for what is ready to come forward.

You’ll leave with a clearer sense of the woman within and one grounded way to honor her in your everyday life.

Permission to Reclaim the Goddess Within
Saturday, September 20
1–2:30 p.m.

DFW Crystals
Register through DFW Crystals:
https://dfwcrystals.com/collections/events/products/goddess-workshop-ann-09-20-26

Do something today simply because it delights you.

It doesn’t have to be productive, meaningful, or part of a larger plan.

Joy is reason enough.

Perhaps we create more stress for ourselves than we realize.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

Yet we often talk about our priorities—plural—as though they all deserve first place.

The word itself offers a clue.

A priority is singular. It's what comes first.

That doesn't mean only one thing matters. It means that in this moment, one thing may need more from you than the others.

I've found that a lot of our stress comes from trying to give equal weight to everything that's important. We keep trying to give everything first place.

No wonder we feel pulled in so many directions.

That's one of the reasons I created the What Matters Most Workbook. It's simply an invitation to step back, reflect, and recognize what deserves first place in this season of your life.

Sometimes that one decision brings more peace than trying to do everything equally well.

If you'd like a copy, you can download it here for free: https://annranson.com/what-matters-most-workbook-2/

One of the things I've come to appreciate is that clarity has seasons.

Many of us treat clarity as if it's something we're supposed to achieve once and for all. We keep searching for the "right" answer, hoping that once we find it, we'll never have to question it again.

But that's not what I've seen.

The clarity that served me twenty years ago isn't the clarity I need today. Not because it was wrong, but because I've changed.

I've come to trust clarity a little differently. I don't expect it to answer every question for the rest of my life. I simply trust it to guide my next step, knowing that life will offer me new opportunities to learn and see things in new ways.

That realization has been surprisingly freeing.

It means I don't have to wait until I'm certain about everything before I move forward. I simply need to be honest about what feels true now, and remain open to what tomorrow may reveal.

Many of us have been taught that if we just think a little longer or work a little harder, the answer will eventually appear.

Sometimes that's true.

But after years of facilitating strategic planning sessions, coaching conversations, and small groups, I've noticed something else.

Some of the clearest breakthroughs happen when someone asks a thoughtful question, offers another perspective, or simply reflects back something we couldn't quite see for ourselves.

I've come to believe that clarity isn't always something we create alone. Sometimes it's something we discover together.

Perhaps the permission isn't to have all the answers.

Perhaps it's to let someone help us see more clearly.

A few weeks ago, I did something I rarely do. I cleared my calendar and gave myself permission to simply sit. There wasn't a project to finish or a long list of things I was trying to accomplish. I just needed some space.

At first, I worried that I should be doing something more productive. Instead, I noticed something else happening.

The thoughts I'd been carrying around for months began to settle. Pieces that had felt disconnected started to come together, and I found myself seeing things with greater clarity.

It reminded me that rest isn't separate from the work. Sometimes it is the work.

This week's permission:

Give yourself permission to rest.

Don't you just love it when you've been experiencing something you couldn't quite name...until someone does?

In his new book, What to Make of a Life, Jim Collins describes "the fog"—that period after life changes but before the next direction becomes clear.

I smiled when I read that because I've recently been through my own period of fog.

In fact, I've written about it here.

It's why I took some time off—to listen, reflect, and create enough space to see and hear what emerges.

There's something reassuring, even comforting about discovering that what you've experienced is part of being human.

Sometimes the right words help us understand our own experience.