I’m in NW Kansas and have run into a few friends who are really busy. REALLY busy, in NW Kansas. So busy, it seems to interfere with what, living? Does it interfere with having a life? I’ve been pondering this since coming back to the US from Indonesia and my adventure there.
In 1989, as a raw and inexperienced professional speaker, I was invited to speak to an International business group in Las Vegas. I knew it was a huge stretch for me so I said yes, well, more like “YES”! No stretching, no moving out of the comfort zone, no growing in my life. And I knew that to get better, I had to take some risks.
So I did say yes and boy did I learn! First, I learned it was a breakfast meeting for about 750 people on the final day of their conference and I had nearly two hours with them. As it was the last day of the conference in Las Vegas, you can probably guess what most of them were up to last night. You can probably also make a pretty educated guess as to how their energy was that morning. Aside from coffee and more coffee, they weren’t particularly energetic.
The next thing I learned was how important it was to be flexible. In those days, my planning and preparation was my comfort zone. Plan, prepare, script a little (OK, probably a lot) and then adjust as I go along. Only this morning, in front of the largest group I had ever worked with, all the audio visual aids failed. No music, no slides, sreechy microphone and 750 tired participants.
I exercised great internal control realizing that I would not die here today and also realizing that if I maintained contact with my center, everything would be OK. With those ideas firmly in the front of my thinking and feeling, time slowed down. I walked past the podium and saw a clock ticking away in the black shadow beneath it, red eyes glaring menacingly at me from the dark cavern of the podium.
Breathe, center, trust! Suddenly, the audio visual connections came to life and I was introduced amidst the sounds of clanging breakfast plates and buffet tables. Amazingly, I spoke from my center and I could feel the energy of the room change.
My topic was “Thinking for the 21st Century” and I wanted people to feel a shift that would give them a clue about the threshold where creativity takes place. Thus, the slide show I had prepared of favorite photo’s from my travels and adventures up to that point in my life.
I gave them some unusual instructions asking them to look at the slides but resist any mental attempt at labeling them as to time or place or whether they had visited themselves. Instead of labeling, I asked them to feel and notice the first feeling that crept in when they looked at the slides. Photo’s of cities, crowded Atlanta sidewalks, smoke puffing from bus exhaust, sunsets off the Baja, a close up pattern of the sacred geometry in a sun flower and such. Within moments, the energy of the room made a profound shift! Calmness replaced fatigue, energy replaced lethargy and curiosity poked it’s head into the room. This was one of the first experiences I had ever had with feeling such a profound and tangible shift in the energy of the room.
The second thing that happened was just as profound for me and I’ve spent the past twenty plus years contemplating the question over and over again. At one point, I asked those 750 participants to consider a question but not from the point of view of standard responses. Standard responses included things like money, promotion, career advancement, a new car, a bigger home or personal wealth. I asked instead for them to consider the question from the view of a human being interested in making their own personal life work better and be happier for them.
The question I asked: “What do you want”? I watched in amazement as 750 faces went into a trance like expressionless mode, chin rising, eyes glancing toward the ceiling, and minds searching for answer they didn’t have to a significant life question. That question, “What do you want” put 750 people into a trance together. It was a trance of contemplation. At that moment, I realized how much the answer to that question formed and shaped one’s life.
Over the years, my own answer has changed. At first, it was a rational and logical answer that possessed no inspiring qualities. Whatever I set my mind to, I was able to achieve but often felt empty and quickly jumped to “NEXT”. I knew what was missing but was unclear how to get there.
What was missing: the emotional or vibrational answer deeper and more authentic than logical rational answer. The emotional answer from my Soul would carry more enthusiasm and passion with it. I would not feel like I was working or efforting but was carried along by a mystical current. At moments of my life, I felt that. Other moments, I struggled back into efforting and feeling out of sorts.
Was my answer MY answer or something I’d been talked into wanting? Was it something society and everyone around me valued and pursued so I assumed I should want it too? Or was it deeply authentic?
On my recent trip to Indonesia and Malaysia, I lived in that authentic energy every day as best I could and watched magic guide my travels. Now, I’m here in the US learning how to apply the same consciousness and awareness to the daily activities of my life, listening and responding where life seems to be calling me!
Back to the presentation in Las Vegas and two other issues that surprised me. I listened my way through that two hours rarely looking at my careful preparation but knowing where to go next. Connecting to my center, I knew what story to tell or what direction to move next, what question to ask and what example to share. When I finished, I was surprised by the audience reaction, they really liked it! I hadn’t been aware of any like or dislike during the presentation, I had only been paying attention to what felt right internally.
After the presentation, a man came up to me, handed me his business card and said, “I like your values and what you stand for. I want you to come work with my people”. In hindsight, that was a reaction to my “being”, not my doing. The second thing I heard that really shocked me was a person looking me square in the eye and saying, “You really DO believe what you talk about”! I was shocked! You mean to tell me that there are speakers out there who don’t believe what they are talking about? That puzzled me and surprised me at first.
Now, for the test, “WHAT TO YOU WANT”? Not something you have been convinced of or talked into or feel you need to accomplish to feel good about yourself but “what do you want”? I’m convinced that being clear about that sets the Universe in motion and makes things happen. When Joseph Campbell talked about encouraging people to follow their bliss, do what brings you joy and is meaningful to you, something interesting happens. He explained it to be as if invisible hands come out of nowhere making all sort of impossible things happen to help you on your way.
It’s your life. There are no right or wrong answers. Everything is OK. Choose wisely, chose something that inspires and nourishes you. Be fearless, choose outrageously, be wild and unrealistic, and carefully imagine the feeling of your dreams coming true. The feelings are key! Then, watch how your life unfolds and the surprises that show up.
Two friends sent me reference to this movie today, “The Adjustment Bureau”. I watched the trailer which I’m posting here. I haven’t seen the movie yet but do feel like I’m living it. Here’s the trailer to provide some stimulation and food for thought.