Help, I'm Drowning Again

#RepeatWeek

I was reminded of this particular post recently when my wife and I decided to take our first Caribbean cruise.

"We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic." - Cullen Hightower

Not many years ago, something unexpected happened beyond the planning I had done. It was an event in which your fear gets brought directly to you and has to be faced without fully realizing it was going to happen.

Facing your personal fear when all along you have been trying to avoid it.

My personal fear is one in which I am drowning. The fear of falling into the water, being submerged and never coming back up. It might seem silly to even admit this at my age, but I can not swim. I can not float on the water nor tread water to save my own life. It is a fear which can be overwhelming at times and stems from an incident when I was only seven or eight years old.

As I tell the story, though my brothers would disagree, is we were all at the local pool. I had just started learning to swim albeit not very well. So my parents confined me to the shallow end and my brothers were to keep an eye on me. Again, my brothers were to keep an eye on me.

As I was bouncing about in the pool having a good time, two unknown kids came along through the water. One was swimming near the surface, the other was low in the water. In one quick movement they caused me to fall into the water and there held me down.

It seemed as though I were under water for ten minutes but in all reality was only ten seconds I suppose. Yet it scared the living daylights out of me and became my biggest life long fear. The joke in my family became that I could no longer take a bath for fear of drowning.

Trying to overcome those personal fears.

Over the years I have tried with little success to truly overcome this fear. I can take a bath thank you, but bodies of water, boats still make me nervous. Most times I try to avoid placing myself in situations which could cause me to confront the fear. So to my surprise, this particular weekend challenged me on this front.

My wife and I were at an overnight camping trip for instructors of the C3 Journey program. As we sat around the fire, the conversation turned to a planned kayak on the Chattahoochie River the next morning.

My plan was to actually head back home and do some work around the house. With utmost certainty this was my planned avoidance of the water, but my wife was with me and encouraged me to go down the river.

So on the spur of the moment, it was a decision on my part to say yes. What could go wrong I told myself but inside I was feeling the fear build. So off we went the next day for what everyone was calling a fun afternoon of kayaking; something I had never done before.

No time for fear at this stage, no time to think.

A quick lesson from the outfitter and into the water we went. And as unplanned as it could be, a short distance down the river I tipped over in shallow water and thought "oh geez, here we go." I continued my trek with the others down the river, maneuvering as best I could. I felt better the further we moved down the river and it seemed the fear began to subside.

That is until half way through our journey. Not far ahead of us lay a Class 2 water rapid. Many would consider this nothing, but to an inexperienced paddler and one fearful of water, it might as well have been a Class 6 in my mind.

- As I neared, two fellow kayaks had gotten hung up about ten feet past the drop.
- I was heading straight for them and no other way around.
- I told myself just drop into it and muscle your way to the right and around them.

There is an old saying, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men" from a novel by John Steinbeck which was never more appropriate. Head first into the first two kayaks and the rushing water spun my boat around and then upside down.

The interesting thing in these (to me) terrifying moments I was first looking around for a panic button right there underneath the water. And secondly, I immediately began grabbing for whatever was nearby as I was caught upside down in my kayak. Lucky for me while unlucky for my friend is that his loose t-shirt was nearby to which I grabbed hold of.

What happens after those fearful moments?

Surprisingly I did not pull him under and soon enough became untangled and regained my upright stature in the turbulent water. All three feet of water that is! In a sudden instant, the panic was replaced by embarrassment as I tried to regain composure. And trying to find my kayak and paddle...rule one, never lose your kayak and paddle.

The rest of the journey was filled with a few more exciting moments but nothing which made me confront my fear of drowning more then the incident just described. I call it the "Damn Rock Rapid Incident."

- I would like to tell you a miracle occurred that day and my fear is completely gone.
- I would like to tell you it is that simple.
- But it isn't, there is still work to do in overcoming fear.

What I can tell you is we need to confront our fears more often.

The only way we ever get over our fears is to face them, over and over again. To avoid and run from the fear will only embolden that fear. We give fear strength over our lives by avoiding it.

By facing the fear, we take away that strength.

Keep facing your fears and eventually we overtake them. I should have learned that long ago, but this kayak trip was my first step. You can also take a step forward and get in the face of your fears. Seek out ways to confront the fear and eventually you will find the fear running from you.

I may have nearly panicked myself into drowning, but I have also panicked my fear into one day leaving me.

Stay inspired my friends!

Single Ember Again

#RepeatWeek

“Abruptly the poker of memory stirs the ashes of recollection and uncovers a forgotten ember, still smoldering down there, still hot, still glowing, still red as red.” - William Manchester

A story was told at a recent meeting I attended. The speaker was Ps Steve Bullen, who along with his wife Simone were pastors at theC3Church - North Atlanta. Ps Steve was speaking to a large group of men about re-igniting their lives.

He told the story of many years ago during a beach-side conference which always held a very large bonfire at conference end.

In the days leading up to the conference, folks involved with putting on the event had built a huge pile of wood and timbers. This was going to be a very large fire for those gathered. But as the conference started, the rains came.

Rain was pouring down for two to three days, through out the week soaking everything including the bonfire wood.

When the final night came, the rains had ceased and everyone was expecting a grand fire. As you would expect, the wood was damp and the days sunshine had not fully dried the wood. So paper, wood brush and lots of matches were consumed trying to get this bonfire started.

Then out of the corner of Steve's eye, he sees someone coming with a large fuel can, gasoline one would expect, letting the liquid fly towards the pile. It was estimated there was most probably two or more gallons of the highly flammable stuff.

To no one's surprise, there were a few small embers from the failed lighting attempts still glowing within the pile.

Now if you have never seen what happens with gasoline; the fumes are flammable and all it takes it a small spark or ember to ignite it completely. An instant solar flare occurs which lit up the entire coastline.

So bright that ships thought it was a light beacon. So intense that...well, you get the picture.

The lesson from this story - all it took was one small ember.

One small spark or ember to change everything. Something so small and singular in purpose we somehow forget that it exists. But it does exist. It exists in each of us, deep inside where we have forgotten it.

That one small flame glows, just waiting for you to throw something on it. To let it ignite your life and explode into something great. Oh yes, it does exist and all it takes is that one small flame. A small touch or a small amount of movement to change your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Carpe Diem Again

#RepeatWeek

"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." - John Keating

Carpe Diem, an interesting phrase generally meaning "seize the day." It comes from a Latin poem written by Horace that has become sort of a statement of principle for many people.

It is generally translated as "seize the day" and literally it means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, or gather", but Publius Ovidius Naso (better known as Ovid) used it to mean, "To enjoy, seize, use, make use of".

In Horace's poem, the long version is "Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero", meaning to "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future." His intent was to say that our future is uncertain and we should limit our hope's to a shorter future. In some respects he was speaking to people and business leaders who think short term goals or just the next quarter, so "drink one's wine."

In modern culture I would argue the quote describes its use best. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary", meaning to use each and every day to do something great.

Do not waste a single day waiting for the next; choose now, not later.

Move life forward, find your dreams, have a great and 'extraordinary' life.

The future exists but you have to move towards it. To sit idle and allow the future to find you means it will only find you in the same place, sitting idle.

You have the ability to impact your own future.

You can impact your own future.

Seize the day, folks. Make your lives extraordinary.

Stay inspired my friends.

Never Give In Again

#RepeatWeek

"Never, never, never give in." - Winston Churchill

The above quotation is often mis-quoted as "...never, never give up." The quote came from a speech that Winston Churchill gave at his old school called Harrow School on October 29, 1941.

In the speech he said, "This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

England had been suffering through the German Blitz from September 1940 to May of 1941. The German military had tried to break the will of the British people and a massive amount of destruction and terror had rained down upon England. By October of 1941, the British were certainly weary but not defeated.

Winston Churchill gave his speech in the dawning light of survival from Germany's attempt to defeat that will the British people struggled to maintain. It didn't work and his speech was an affirmation to all that regardless of how tough things are, "never give in" to the destructive forces you are up against.

An old adage about not looking at the ground but up and forward.

One could say that if the British looked down they saw rubble and destruction. But when they looked up all they could see was the smoke and falling bombs of German war planes. Neither was very inviting.

Yet I believe they saw through the smoldering flames.

They saw the blue sky piercing the blackened air. At night, they searched and found twinkling stars peering back at them. They found solace in the beauty of the universe giving them hope and strength.

If your life is being pulled down into the dirt by forces unknown. If life is blackening your sky. Remember you can push through by looking for and holding onto even the smallest bits of hope. A bright star in the night sky that catches your eye, a brilliant sunrise, or the smile from a stranger.

Even when it seems all might be lost, "never give in - never give up."

Stay inspired my friends!