“The Fire-Walker”

There I stood, barefoot. Just the bottoms of my feet touching the pavement below me.

I had just made my way through the arena to find myself standing in line.

Drums echoed through the parking lot and the smell of burning coals filled the air.

Slowly, I inched forward and the sound of drums grew louder.

Now it was my turn and a voice yelled…

“Make Your Move!”

With my right hand clenched into a fist I pound my left chest 3 times, arch my back while looking straight into the sky and yell as loud as I can.

I just did it!

I just walked on fire!

This was almost 3 years ago at a Tony Robbins seminar in San Jose.

I would be lying if I said didn’t suffer from anxiety pretty much the entire day in anticipation for this.

I really didn’t know what to expect, the only thing I knew was that I had to do it.

Not for anyone else, but for myself.

As Tony instructed us on how we were about to walk on fire he put an emphasis on the metaphor behind it.

At the time I didn’t really grasp the concept.

It wasn’t until quite a bit later that I fully understood what he meant and how it applied in real life.

A few months after this event, I started training for my first trail race.

I downloaded an app that set up a training schedule for the next 4 months to get me from where I was to where I needed to be.

About 6 weeks in I was scheduled to run 5 miles, something I don’t ever remember doing before that.

But as I left my driveway something incredible happened…

Just as soon as it started, my workout was over.

Not physically, but mentally.

Yes I still had to physically run the route but the mental challenge of finishing it was already complete.

All the dragging myself to get started, the “I don’t want to do this” or “I don’t know if I can do this” was gone.

All it took was that first step, and in my mind, I was already done with the run.

This is when I first understood what he meant that day.

"The only way I could get burned was to stop(quit) or turn back(retreat)."

But the momentum of that first step carried me the rest of the way.

I was reminded of this again this yesterday when Jessica wrote on her Facebook page, sharing her goal to go from not running at all, to completing a marathon. 

All she has to do, is just take that first step.

After all, she can’t run a whole marathon without it.