I have always been a fan of action. Hard core action. I’m one of those people who used to be unable to sit still and just be. I felt I wasn’t ‘enough’ if I wasn’t constantly doing something. I’d ask, “How do I DO ‘being’?” I actually had a limiting belief that being still was a sign of weakness. Well, I have been harnessing my inner Zen-like state and loving it. So much power comes from the being place. Creativity and “allowance” live here as well as a new state of awareness and possibility. AND…. I’m still a doer!!!
In January I signed up for a Tough Mudder. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, I invite you to visit www.toughmudder.com. It’s quite the opposite of lying on the ground supported by the earth and gazing at the clouds passing by (which is still one of my favorite being activities). I really felt the need to live out loud my value of extreme action, and so here we go. My Tough Mudder race is on Mother’s Day. (Yes, kiddos, mommy is getting her groove on.)
I had grand plans for the training process. First, I will complete a half marathon two weeks before the race, hence covering the 13.1 miles of the 11-miler-mudder requirement. I also engaged a Crossfit coach to engage my upper body for the intense obstacle course the way running alone cannot. As time is passing by, I have made other things more important than my overall training such as the demands and joys of business, family and travel. I am logging some ‘weekend warrior’ runs to ensure I can finish the half with some dignity. My upper body strength has much to be desired. Yikes!! Fear is creeping in! Can I compete in this event? Can I even finish? Should I even try?
Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was 70s and sunny, and I have the farmer’s tan to prove it. My kids and I were exercising outside all day long. For them it was ball chasing and sprinkler-sprints. For me it was jump rope, medicine ball squats, the works. Yet there was something I was stressing about that I wasn’t sure I could do. “Could I DO it?” So I decided to quit. To quit doing… and began being.
I got quiet and began visualizing my success. In my mind’s eye, I experienced myself firmly planting my hands on the earth; the same earth that supports my being state in other ways. I then thrusted my legs up and over my torso reaching feet high to the sky in hand stand position. I didn’t just see myself doing this as if in third person, but I actually felt what it would be like. When I opened my eyes, I consciously chose to hit pause on the fear button, and went for it. Down went the hands, up went the legs, and there I was in successful handstand position seeing my 3.5-year-old daughter upside down. She was poised with the camera ready to capture the moment, and yelled, “Mommy, you did it!!!”
This experience changed so much for me. It grounded me, once again, in the power of being. I experienced success twice! The mental game plan and confidence builder of the mind flowed through to the physical world. What else is possible from this place? One thing is for sure… my Tough Mudder training has changed in an instant. I am now visualizing the success of these amazing obstacles and will continue to do the day of the event.
The practical side of me will continue to physically train for many reasons. I enjoy the challenge and the euphoria that comes from exercise. I am also a calculated risk-taker (e.g., there was a brick pillar behind me to support my first-ever hand stand). Yet now the preparation net has been cast much wider. It’s the mental AND the physical. The being AND the doing. What a wonderful cycle!
The gifts that come from meditation continue to present themselves, and I am grateful. Whatever happens before and during the mudder and in all of life, I will learn from it. To be mindful, to choose powerfully, to reap the learning and cycle again IS success for me.
Similar questions are available for you to consider as you are living your lives out loud. What fears are holding you back? What reality checks need to bounce? What’s possible when you visual success in the being place in service of the doing? How will you be mindful, choose powerfully, learn and cycle again?
Live Full, my friends!
Janine, CPO (Chief Possibility Officer)