From my first book: "Changing the Message: A Handbook for Experiential Prevention"
CREATING SHIFT---THE HIGH ROPES COURSE
"The four characteristics of the wasicu (greedy ones) world are fear, anger, jealousy and confusion. When you see these things you will need patience, endurance, alertness and awareness." Wallace Black Elk
For years I have sat and listened to elders talk about how tough the old people were, how they used to eat natural food, walk everywhere and jump in icy rivers year round. I try to emulate those examples as much as possible while still living in the modern world. This year, for reasons still slowly becoming revealed to me, I decided to start my own private polar bear club. Each day on the way home from work I would jump in glacial fed Canyon Creek or the Klickitat River. On weekends I would go in Bowman Creek which is just up the road from my house. During September it was easy. The days were still hot and it was quite refreshing. As time went on, I noticed some changes in my attitudes and perceptions about my daily dip. Initially I would pause and work up the courage to jump in. My mind would work on me a little bit. After a while, I decided to quit being silly. I had made a commitment. A life principle I follow is that when I make a commitment, whether it's publicly or privately, I follow through no matter what.
At a recent conference of highly creative adventurous types I encouraged people there to join me in my morning dip. I had no takers. These are people who facilitate and run high ropes courses for a living. This was something new and they weren't quite ready or perhaps they just did not want to. On the second morning, one man accompanied me just to see what it was like. He wanted to know why I felt a need to jump in. I explained commitment and he understood that. I had to really think though about the core issue. What I came to was that my daily dip was all about my fear. Initially I went through a fear breakthrough process. There are some reasonable fears. Hypothermia is an obvious concern. More than anything , though, I was afraid of temporary discomfort. As in many things that stretch us beyond perceived limits I have received quite a few payoffs. When the flu was raging around this winter, I experienced a few brief sniffles and it moved right through me. After a day of counseling, the icy dip also seems to wash off the residue of human pain. Now I really look forward to it. It has given me a new confidence. I have stretched myself just a little. As a counselor, facilitator and teacher I have to be willing to keep stretching. This somehow gives permission those around me to keep stretching too.
CREATING SHIFT---THE HIGH ROPES COURSE
"The four characteristics of the wasicu (greedy ones) world are fear, anger, jealousy and confusion. When you see these things you will need patience, endurance, alertness and awareness." Wallace Black Elk
For years I have sat and listened to elders talk about how tough the old people were, how they used to eat natural food, walk everywhere and jump in icy rivers year round. I try to emulate those examples as much as possible while still living in the modern world. This year, for reasons still slowly becoming revealed to me, I decided to start my own private polar bear club. Each day on the way home from work I would jump in glacial fed Canyon Creek or the Klickitat River. On weekends I would go in Bowman Creek which is just up the road from my house. During September it was easy. The days were still hot and it was quite refreshing. As time went on, I noticed some changes in my attitudes and perceptions about my daily dip. Initially I would pause and work up the courage to jump in. My mind would work on me a little bit. After a while, I decided to quit being silly. I had made a commitment. A life principle I follow is that when I make a commitment, whether it's publicly or privately, I follow through no matter what.
At a recent conference of highly creative adventurous types I encouraged people there to join me in my morning dip. I had no takers. These are people who facilitate and run high ropes courses for a living. This was something new and they weren't quite ready or perhaps they just did not want to. On the second morning, one man accompanied me just to see what it was like. He wanted to know why I felt a need to jump in. I explained commitment and he understood that. I had to really think though about the core issue. What I came to was that my daily dip was all about my fear. Initially I went through a fear breakthrough process. There are some reasonable fears. Hypothermia is an obvious concern. More than anything , though, I was afraid of temporary discomfort. As in many things that stretch us beyond perceived limits I have received quite a few payoffs. When the flu was raging around this winter, I experienced a few brief sniffles and it moved right through me. After a day of counseling, the icy dip also seems to wash off the residue of human pain. Now I really look forward to it. It has given me a new confidence. I have stretched myself just a little. As a counselor, facilitator and teacher I have to be willing to keep stretching. This somehow gives permission those around me to keep stretching too.
No comments:
Post a Comment