How many times does life come down to a precious moment?
I have always encouraged everyone to live every moment like its our last and to celebrate everything in our lives but, lets be honest, there are always a few moments that stand out from all the others and seem to be the defining moments in our lives. When I was just out of High School I decided to make a run at being a professional tennis player. It had been my dream for as long as I could remember. I trained for hours every day with the deep passionate dream of playing in Wimbledon stadium. However the one area of the game that I neglected was the mental aspect of competing at the highest level in front of large crowds or media. As I climbed through the rankings I found myself in front of bigger crowds and sometimes in front of reporters that were looking for a snap shot or story. It was at these times that I would always play my worst and fold under the pressure. It would irritate me so deeply that I nearly quit the game as a result of my constant failures. In fact, it was this failure that led too my game ending car crash that put me in the hospital and ultimately prematurely ended my career.
Later in life I found myself speaking in front of tens of thousands of people all over the world and once again consumed by great fear and discomfort. I knew I had to find a way to get this under control in order to be effective. So I decided to find a way to reverse the polarity of this effect. I worked to convince myself that instead of thinking that this feeling I had in my gut and my elevated heartbeat were a result of fear, that in fact it was a result of hundreds of people and God himself encouraging me throughout the universe. I made a decision in my mind that all of these feelings, that I used to call “choking”, were in actually the effects of all these life forces sending positive energy and love my way, that they were praying and encouraging me to be calm, confident and bold. Suddenly I would feel a great calmness and confidence come over me. I could feel what we would call “home field advantage” take over my presence. I would stand taller, speak clearer and convey much more passion because I could feel all these beautiful people saying “go for it” “you are awesome” “we are with you” “set them free” “help them heal”. It was truly a beautiful thing to experience.
I referred to this feeling as the “pull”. I could feel them all pulling and praying for the best to happen. The pull is something that we can all embrace when we feel the elevated pulse and nervous energy. Something beautiful and special is about to happen. You are stretching your comfort zone and reaching for new levels of impact in your life. The Universe wants to see you succeed! Embrace this feeling as a gift from God. Doctors would call it adrenalin; I call it special juice to take us to a new level of impact. Don’t fear it, embrace the uncomfortable and call upon the love of the world that needs a new hero.
Look for opportunities to harness this special life force and you will learn to find great comfort in the uncomfortable. You are awesome and the world wants to see you overcome.
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