I Walked On Fire Today...

Holy macaroni. Today was a banner day.

Today I walked on fire.

I don' t mean that in a figurative sense, I mean I literally walked on fire.

Today was extraordinary. As part of the personal development conference we attended for Andy's work at home business, we participated in firewalking, and it was awesome.

We started the day with an exercise that's quite familiar if you've ever done the Landmark advanced course (the "being with people" exercise). We stared into the eyes of another person for nearly 5 minutes -- looking directly into their soul.

Then we watched a video about 3 days that one of the company's founders spent camping out in the Australian outback with Aboriginees. It was heartwarming.

Then we boarded huge buses (there were 500 of us) and set off for somewhere north of Sydney.

We arrived at a ranch of sorts, where there were heaps of sheep, horses and cattle. A huge tent was set up, and we ate picnic box lunches under the tent, out of the cold and wind.

Then our host started his presentation. I have no idea how long he spoke for, because I was so present to what he was saying.

Which was a good thing, because he kept saying there were 3 steps to this firewalking thing...or anything else in life, for that matter.

Step 1 - Focus on the here and now. Focus on what you are doing, and what there is to do right NOW.

Step 2 - Expect the best. Always expect the best possible outcome -- know where you are going, and what you want.

Step 3 - Have a plan. Execute your plan.

Then it was time to go....so we removed our shoes and socks and walked outside.

For a minute or two, I watched the others who were walking. It seemed so surreal -- there was no pause before they walked, they just walked. And that was that.

Hmmm, interesting, I thought.

So I got in line. And while we were in line, we were talking and chatting, and working out who had a video camera and who had a still camera, and who would shoot video of whom, and how would we work it all out, etc.

Part of me was thinking, "How can I do this so easily? Don't I have to put myself into a trance, or get myself psyched up, or get into the 'zone.'?"

Apparently not. NExt thing I knew, it was all me.

There was no pause. I did not hesitate. I did not look down. I just skittered across searing hot coals, about 1100-1200 degrees. Or so I'm told -- I didn't feel a thing.

In fact, they had told us to step lively and to move quickly across. I remember thinking, "Why am I going so fast? This isn't even hot."

And sure enough, when I got across, I thought "Wow! I did it!" and THAT is when my feet started to tingle....

But I had no blisters, no hot spots, no burns whatsoever.

It was quite a surreal experience.

You know, I've done board breaking before, and there was a certain buildup to it. Then there's just you and the board, and a sense of can I? will I?

But today, there was no hype. No jumping up and down, no putting myself into any particualr state.

I simply got in line, waited my turn, and then I did it. Period. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy as they say.

What a way to live life -- what a way to take hold and go for my goals -- no psyche up, no analysis paralysis, no "getting ready" preparation period.

I just did it.

Everyone I talked to seemed to have the same experience. Like "what was I so afraid of?" and "that was easy" and "it wasn't even hot" or "I didn't feel a thing."

So what's the moral? Well, let's combine it with your QoD:

What do you REALLY want? Now, what if you were to just go for it -- not worry about whether or not you'll get hurt, not worry about how you'll do it or how it will look, you just dig in and do it.

What would that be like?

What would it be like if you could feel the fear...and act anyways?

Go for it!

BTW, as if that wasn't enough of a spectacular day...I've always wanted to try smoking a hookah pipe. I dunno why, it just looks cool.

Well, sure enough, we hooked up with this couple we knew (but not well) and we went to dinner with them...and afterwards, we went up to teh 31st floor lounge to enjoy the view...and they invited us to smoke their hookah pipe with them. And it was awesome! I loved it -- AND Deepesh taught me to blow smoke rings.

Man, can life really get any better than this?? Stay tuned, we'll find out together.