Surfing Down A Mountain of Lava With Fireproof Shoes
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| picture from http://www.personalexcellence.co |
This week has been wildly catastrophic to say the least. I woke up Monday morning expecting a little chaos, but I never thought I’d have to stare down the mouth of a volcano and surf the hot lava with fire proof shoes! LOL
I know, a little extreme, but sometimes it really feels extreme. When everything around you sort of blows up and you don’t know where to start, you just have to pick a place and start somewhere.
Like for me. With three days of straight events and lots of organizing, and lots of files that got lost and had to be recreated at the last minute because of the weather, I tackled each item as first come first serve. Whatever was most immediate, had to be done. I checked off the little steps and slowly, each day became less of a volcano and more of a spitting water fountain. So I grabbed an umbrella. I made it work, and with one day left and just a handful of issues still staring at me from my list, I’m finally, almost done. YES.
So when life gets a little heavy, put on your best racing shoes. Tie those laces tight and set your course. Step out there and keep going. The steps will get easier. You’ll see the end eventually even if you don’t feel it in the moment. Just don’t stop.
~Erika
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| http://www.weirdwarp.com/2010/03/volcanoes-on-earth-and-beyond/ |
I have a new goal: inviting change in my heart
It’s Tuesday after work. I’ve clocked the kids out at school, gathered their papers for the day, their coats and buckled them in the car. We’re sitting at a stoplight, the light turns green and off we go on the drive to our house when my son makes an observation out loud, igniting a mini feud in the car.
Big Brother: Sis, we are going to Target first and then we’re going home and mommy’s going to make dinner.
Little Sis: No, Simon. That’s not right. We are not going to target.
Big Brother: Yes, sis! Mommy said that’s what we are doing.
While Mom chuckles under her breath as they go back a forth a few more times.
Finally, Me: Sis, Simon told you the truth. His feelings are hurt. Please say Sorry, Simon, You were right.”
Sis says: I’m sorry Simon, in her sweet little voice.
Silence.
Me: Now tell him he was right.
Sis says: But mom, I don’t want to tell him he’s right.
I tried not to laugh. It was a hilarious moment where I wanted to say, when do we learn this stuff?
I have been in so many moments where I’ve felt myself caught in wanting to be right. My face feels warm. My heart rate picks up a few too many notches, and I know, words are just about to fly out of mouth—and they’re all the wrong words. Maybe the words do fly out of my mouth. I’m human. I lose it. And the funny thing is, it’s usually because I’m living so deeply in my personal story about the cause of the whole fight, I haven’t stopped to take in any new information to change my heart.
The best advice I heard in all my training experiences was this simple line: be curious. When something isn’t right, wonder about the person. Wonder about what their day, their moment, even their life must be like right now. That one question changed my life. No, I’m not good at it, but at least I know and I can make a strong effort to try.
So I guess my point of the day is this, we need people. I need people. And people may even need me from time to time. It’s always a good thing to try and see through the eyes of someone else. The person standing in our way of doing our job. The person on the other side who keeps telling us no, when all we want to hear is a yes. Some circumstances can’t be helped—true. But at least, if we try to understand where that other person is, in the moment, even if it is a permanent no, at least the answer goes down a little easier.
One of my dreams for myself is working on changing my heart. So, I’m thinking and I’m reflecting about the moments when I face defeat, or when someone says no to me, or anything else that doesn’t seem reasonable, how can I make it reasonable?
I don’t want to ever give up. So what that means for me is, I need to build a state of understanding in my head and my heart. I have to think, Erika, you are not always right. And maybe, just maybe I can show my kids this! Now, wouldn’t that be something.
Friday Flashback: I Made Myself Jump Off The Edge
I am eight years old.
I climb slow up a metal ladder. Kids are laughing around me. Moms are yelling at their kids to stop running. The sun beats down on my face and I’m sweating. I’m scared. I’m scared of falling the huge amount of feet from the high dive into the swimming pool, but I’ve made up my mind. I’m doing it. Today. I’m not waiting another day.
I get to the plank. The texture of the board hurts my feet. I walk slow wondering if I’m doing the right thing. What will happen when I hit the water? What if I’m not strong enough to swim all the way back to the top, and I’d always been scared of running out of air under water. It was how I learned to swim. My teacher held my head under the water so I’d get the point of learning how to keep my mouth closed.
It worked. But ever since, I couldn’t shake the thought that I’d never get back up.
I stand on the plank, my toes curling over the edge. I see the water everywhere around me, just not directly past my round little eight-year-old belly. I think I had short hair back then. My mom cut it that way and curled it every morning right before school.
Last chance, I think. You can still turn around. You might make everyone behind you a little mad, but who cares. They can’t make you. I didn’t look back though. I took a breath. I stepped my sun tanned foot off the edge and I fell in with my arms flying straight up in the air.
I remember the crash. The minute I hit the water and the minute I sank as far as I’d go and paddled and kicked and I fought so hard I saw the top of the water and I broke through it—free.
I did it. I swam to the edge of the pool and I looked back at the ripple in the water.
I guess I’m thinking about a high dive today because it’s become a way I get through tough moments sometimes. Dreams can be scary. You never know when you might see a little bitty light shining through a crack in the door, or the window, or in this case, off a pool of water. Working and trying and deciding it’s worth it, is definitely worth it. So when I’m scared of taking a step out there and risking my heart and my soul in front of others, I remember that high dive. I remember the importance of risk and trust that when I fall, in some way I just know it, I’ll figure it out and I’ll fly.
Everyday has the power to bring you something brighter and better
Cloud Nine Girl 