I was thinking about the previous blog that I had made about spirituality and metaphysics. I remembered an experience I had doing a fire walk that I wanted to share. I didn’t have any intention of doing a fire walk, I didn’t even know it was on the menu of things I was supposed to do that weekend…but this is how it happened. My girlfriend Georgia called me to tell me about an event that was happening this coming weekend—it was $600.00 bucks and it was going to change my life—here’s the number, I have to run—buh-bye.
I kind of like the “go with the flow”, so I thought $600.00 bucks to change my life—I’m in. So I packed, picked up my mail, had a French manicure, French pedicure and off I went. I had a couple of hours before the event started so I went through my mail—including getting the packet for the weekend I had just embarked on. I opened it up, read the program and I saw “fire walk”.
My instant response was "I’m not doing that"…I just had a $35 dollar pedicure and I need to be in a pair of high heels Monday night for a meeting…and off I went. The conference started and some guy sat down next to me… They that the fire walk was at the beginning of the conference—first night—not at the end after having had a full weekend of “enlightenment”. He kept annoying me and pointing at me telling me that I was “walking” and I told him that "I didn’t think so"….more annoyance until finally I said to him, "what do you do for a living?" …I was pretty sure he was going to tell me he was a used car salesman…he turned out to be a nurse…I asked him "LPN or RN?" RN—right answer--I told him "he wasn’t going anywhere without me".
We’re taken outside in the cold November air to see pyre after pyre of 15 feet tall burning wood and coal. Billowing embers of burnt bits cascade and blow through air…I was worried that my hair would catch on fire just standing there; I’ll admit it, I’m scared. We went back inside for hours more of “life will never be the same” indoctrination and at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, head back outside for the fire walk. Everyone takes off their shoes in honor of those that chose to find the courage inside of themselves to walk across 25 feet of red burning coals. We form lines; I push my buddy to go ahead of me and he does.
He does his fire walk and I’m still not sure that I’m walking that walk as I stand at the head of the line and then he and I lock eyes from 30 feet away--he on one side of the coals, me on the other. I had an instant focused moment of clarity…I asked myself if walking across the coals would mean that I could have saved my mother’s life by doing it, would I? And in that moment, I knew that my answer was yes, and I knew I was walking. I stepped onto the coals never removing my eyes from his—in the dark they were more yellow than any other color I could describe-- hypnotic yellow. I was about half way across the coals when the reality of what I was doing begin to sink in and I asked myself, what are you feeling? Warm, cozy warmth, not hot.
The next thing that I remembered was someone with a water hose spraying my feet and telling me to raise my arms over my head and jump with joy, that I had done it. I looked down at the water being sprayed onto my feet and when I looked up, he was gone. I looked for him for the rest of the weekend, but I didn’t find him.
I often say that people come into your life for a reason; sometimes the reason is for you, sometimes the reason is for them.
My mom worked in a hospital emergency room and by some intervention in a room full of 3000 people, somehow a guy who was a nurse showed up when my answer was "no". I’ve often wondered if I would have done it if would have told me he was an LPN. Would have had the same courage to go through with it? The answer is that I don't know.
My first real estate mentor taught me to force myself to do things that I didn’t want to do, and to force myself to do things that I was afraid of so that when a deal came across my desk with lots of zeros to the left of the decimal point I could handle them. So my fellow investors, MY pals would bungee jump, swim with sharks, and run joyfully toward life’s little craziness to build some stress tolerance and self mastery muscle. Cortisol and dopamine...
I wondered why I was meant to experience that, why I thought of my mother in that moment. ...
Little birds get pushed out of the nests whether they are ready to or not by their mothers in an ultimate act of faith that if called upon that their children can do anything…including soar.
I kind of like the “go with the flow”, so I thought $600.00 bucks to change my life—I’m in. So I packed, picked up my mail, had a French manicure, French pedicure and off I went. I had a couple of hours before the event started so I went through my mail—including getting the packet for the weekend I had just embarked on. I opened it up, read the program and I saw “fire walk”.
My instant response was "I’m not doing that"…I just had a $35 dollar pedicure and I need to be in a pair of high heels Monday night for a meeting…and off I went. The conference started and some guy sat down next to me… They that the fire walk was at the beginning of the conference—first night—not at the end after having had a full weekend of “enlightenment”. He kept annoying me and pointing at me telling me that I was “walking” and I told him that "I didn’t think so"….more annoyance until finally I said to him, "what do you do for a living?" …I was pretty sure he was going to tell me he was a used car salesman…he turned out to be a nurse…I asked him "LPN or RN?" RN—right answer--I told him "he wasn’t going anywhere without me".
We’re taken outside in the cold November air to see pyre after pyre of 15 feet tall burning wood and coal. Billowing embers of burnt bits cascade and blow through air…I was worried that my hair would catch on fire just standing there; I’ll admit it, I’m scared. We went back inside for hours more of “life will never be the same” indoctrination and at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, head back outside for the fire walk. Everyone takes off their shoes in honor of those that chose to find the courage inside of themselves to walk across 25 feet of red burning coals. We form lines; I push my buddy to go ahead of me and he does.
He does his fire walk and I’m still not sure that I’m walking that walk as I stand at the head of the line and then he and I lock eyes from 30 feet away--he on one side of the coals, me on the other. I had an instant focused moment of clarity…I asked myself if walking across the coals would mean that I could have saved my mother’s life by doing it, would I? And in that moment, I knew that my answer was yes, and I knew I was walking. I stepped onto the coals never removing my eyes from his—in the dark they were more yellow than any other color I could describe-- hypnotic yellow. I was about half way across the coals when the reality of what I was doing begin to sink in and I asked myself, what are you feeling? Warm, cozy warmth, not hot.
The next thing that I remembered was someone with a water hose spraying my feet and telling me to raise my arms over my head and jump with joy, that I had done it. I looked down at the water being sprayed onto my feet and when I looked up, he was gone. I looked for him for the rest of the weekend, but I didn’t find him.
I often say that people come into your life for a reason; sometimes the reason is for you, sometimes the reason is for them.
My mom worked in a hospital emergency room and by some intervention in a room full of 3000 people, somehow a guy who was a nurse showed up when my answer was "no". I’ve often wondered if I would have done it if would have told me he was an LPN. Would have had the same courage to go through with it? The answer is that I don't know.
My first real estate mentor taught me to force myself to do things that I didn’t want to do, and to force myself to do things that I was afraid of so that when a deal came across my desk with lots of zeros to the left of the decimal point I could handle them. So my fellow investors, MY pals would bungee jump, swim with sharks, and run joyfully toward life’s little craziness to build some stress tolerance and self mastery muscle. Cortisol and dopamine...
I wondered why I was meant to experience that, why I thought of my mother in that moment. ...
Little birds get pushed out of the nests whether they are ready to or not by their mothers in an ultimate act of faith that if called upon that their children can do anything…including soar.
No comments:
Post a Comment