Last week I suggested that maybe you and I are tougher than we give ourselves credit for.
Have you noticed that to be true for yourself?
I attended an event last night that challenged many of my comfort zones and pushed me physically beyond what I thought I could endure…
And it was amazing!
A friend of mine, who is a holistic healer and an addiction recovery coach, has apprenticed with an Arapahoe ceremonial elder for 10 years. He was holding a sweat lodge for healing at a yoga studio.
Contrary to my original uninformed preconceived notion of what the night would entail, this “sweat lodge” was not a metaphor for a nice spiritual get together. No, it was an actual sweat lodge in a sauna!
My initial comfort zone was just to push past the idea of driving downtown Chicago and trying to find parking. It’s surprising what huge barrier that can be.
My next obstacle was getting together with people that have different religious beliefs than I do and release any judgement.
Next was to push past the idea of getting into a sauna. I have not had great experiences with saunas.
Another interesting hurdle came when my friend announced that, if anyone had a song they wanted to share, they could feel free. It just so happens that I have written a song called Heal Me that I thought would be perfect for this occasion.
It was a hurdle because I was insecure about what people would think of the song, which is unfinished, and what they would think of my voice.
I did sing the song, however, and people were genuinely moved by the song and openly expressed their appreciation for it.
The ultimate test, though, was just persevering through the intense heat of the sauna for the entire duration of the sweat lodge. I didn’t think I was going to be able to handle it.
There wasn’t any blood, but there was definitely a lot of sweat and not a few tears!
When it was all over I felt great physically, and I also felt an incredible bond with the other participants.
I can now look back on that experience and feel great about what happened and marvel at the fact that I could endure it as well as I did. In fact, it has given me confidence to even do it again.
However, the big lesson for me, and I think for all of us, is to not be content and settle with past successes, but take that confidence and continue moving forward, reframing our expectations of future outcomes with a renewed sense of hope and positive anticipation.
Here’s to looking forward to persevering through any challenges this week may bring and emerging better for it on the other side!
Cheers,