You may have heard me speak at the Engineering Education Symposium today. I covered lots of information about what it means to live a life worth living. Of course the only way to get there, to have a life worth living, is by putting your life on the line. That old American proverb rings true here:
“You can’t cross a 20 foot chasm in two 10 foot jumps”
So putting your life on the line is not a part-time thing. What the hell does putting your life on the line mean? It simply means doing the thing you think you can not do.How do you identify that thing? You already know how. Listen to yourself. It’s the thing that makes you feel tense, that turns your breathing shallow, puckers your keester. It makes you think “I can’t do that. If I did….[plug in whatever you think bad will happen].”
Yep, that’s it. The paradox is, when you do this thing, you discover several truths:
- That you actually can do that thing.
- That doing it is actually easy.
- That doing it ejects you from your rut and into a new dimension of living.
- That when you do that thing, and commit to doing it, you discover reality bending in ways that circumstances help you move forward.
In this space, the difficult, the stressful, the scary become catalysts for living your dreams. At this point, you’re creating your own inflection points, your own positive Black Swan Events. And when you do that you manufacture positive circumstances that push you forward.
An excellent model for this is the Ring of Fire, coined by Master Coach Martha Beck and described in her book, Steering by Starlight. Another version of this model is beautifully described in Chin-ning Chu’s book Do Less, Achieve More. Both books can be found used on Amazon.
So what is it you think you can not do? Maybe it’s having a frank conversation with your spouse. Perhaps it’s betting on yourself…and then delivering. Perhaps it’s confronting the fact that your religious beliefs are a sham, in the sense that you profess belief, but you don’t bet your life on it. Religions and spiritual beliefs are hollow if they’re keeping you in a rut. They’re also excellent portals for living the life worth living.
Whatever it is you think you can’t do, when you choose to do it instead of sidling up to your fear, you discover a whole new world opening up before you.
My experience has confirmed this. I didn’t intend to be CEO of my social venture, NedWater Liquid Change. But long ago, in high school, I remember putting the intention in motion to become a CEO. So here I am. It’s not what I thought it would be, but life rarely is, right?
What if you fail? What is failing? Remember, you always get a second chance to make it. In my case, I got three chances. However many you need is how many you’ll get. You are creating your own reality after all. So failing, in life, is not an option, unless you want it to be.
If you’re reading this without attending the speech A Life Worth Living is a Life Put on the Line, then this post probably isn’t making much sense. In a few days, however, you’ll be able to put the pieces together: I intend to upload the video of the speech on my resources page. Check back in a week or two.
For those who did attend the speech, consider, if you’re cynical, that your being right is keeping you from experience what I’m suggesting is real. If you’re finding yourself inspired, go for it. There’s nothing to fear. Your fear is real, but you don’t have to fear it. However you’re feeling, write me here. Let me know what you think. Let’s explore our Rings of Fire together.