04/12/2025
I was ready to go to war.
Not metaphorically.
I mean: jaw clenched, chest armored, scrolling like a soldier waiting for orders.
When the war in Europe began, I couldn’t stop consuming the news.
Telegram. LinkedIn. Updates every hour.
It felt like breathing smoke.
Coffee turned to ash.
Sleep vanished.
And something in me, something old, activated.
I walked through my days like a man preparing to fight.
Not just this war… but all the ones my ancestors couldn’t finish.
And then Ruth, my colleague and mentor, calm as oak, looked at me and asked:
“How are you feeling these days?”
That broke me.
Because I wasn’t feeling — I was absorbing.
I wasn’t responding — I was reacting.
To injustice, yes.
But also to inherited rage from four generations of war I had never processed.
I was carrying their pain like a torch.
Ready to run into darkness without a map.
Passing that burden forward to a fifth generation — if I didn’t stop.
That conversation with Ruth changed everything.
We sat in the same room where I usually coach others.
But this time, I was the one unraveling.
Talking.
Raging.
Weeping.
And when I finally stopped, she said something I’ll never forget:
“Alex, you deserve to live in peace.”
And for the first time in weeks...... I believed her.
My nervous system softened.
My jaw unlocked.
And I realized something no headline could teach me:
- Not every war belongs to you.
- Not every fight is a calling.
- And not every surge of purpose needs to come from pain.
This was the turning point in my work as a coach.
Because I saw how many high achievers were doing exactly what I had done:
- Carrying emotional weight that wasn’t theirs.
- Following momentum that wasn’t aligned.
- Mistaking burnout for purpose.
They weren’t weak.
They were powerful people with no map, operating in a world that rewards over-functioning and disconnects them from themselves.
That day, I began practicing something different:
- Inner leadership.
- Identity clarity.
- Peace that doesn’t require approval.
Because real success isn’t about doing more.
It’s about knowing why you’re doing anything at all.