132 Co-Active Coaching Circumstances versus Possibilities There are always reasons clients are not getting the results they want. Just listen and they will tell you. The reasons almost always sound realistic and convincing. Then begin listening underneath, and you will hear a par- ticular tone or flavor that accompanies the reasons and rationalizations. You will hear about difficult situations and uncontrollable circumstances. You will hear about rigid timelines and expectations, people who are inflexible or unwilling. It may or may not sound like complaining, and it might sound quite normal and understandable. In fulfillment, you tune your ear to hear the aliveness of values being lived, honored, and celebrated, but you could hear the opposite: deadness, anger, crankiness. In balance, you will hear a life in flow filled with pos- sibilities and alternative courses of action, freedom, and creativity, or you will hear the harshness of unchangeable circumstances and unyielding boxes. We write these distinctions between fulfillment and balance as if they were sharply different colors on a color wheel, yet we don't mean to