The Quote: Butch:
“You know when I was a kid, I always thought I was gonna grow up to be a hero”. Sundance: “Well it’s too late now”. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Action:
I thought for sure that this time the wind would tear the tent and myself from the ground, to be deposited in the ocean like some jetsam drifting on the surface of the water. The trees appeared at times to be dancing with delight with the express train gusts of forty to fifty knot winds, while also being tested to their full capacity.
I was camped on a small point in the southern Gulf Islands. It was day five of six, and my first experience with doing a solo sea kayaking trip. I was green, nervous, and also a little overwhelmed by what I had gotten myself into. My mind kept drifting back to the four-stage leadership model of development, and that I was a resounding stage one, “unconsciously incompetent”.
I could always tell when an exceptionally strong gust was preparing to rush in and annihilate any sense of calm that I might be feeling at the moment. It would become completely silent, and then I could feel a subtle charge in the air and just at the periphery of my hearing there would be a sound.
This sound is like no other. It is when the wind is gathering itself into the raucous ride of its realization of its might, screaming like a wounded animal, as it tears through the treetops with focused intensity on everything in its way.
I was huddled in my sleeping bag deep in the forest, yet wanting to move, to tear myself away from here, tomorrow on the ocean. My only contact with the outside world at this moment, a small weather radio, bought at Radio Shack for twenty dollars, murmuring its crackled message of gale force winds and heavy seas.
My mind was buzzing like a metal rod struck by lightning with thoughts of imminent death, capsize, marooned and running out of food, breaking trees crushing my tent, and a diversity of other calamities that were certain to befall me. Mind racing, thoughts jumping like oil on a hot griddle. Sleep impossible, and tortured imaginings in my mind’s eye, were my constant companions through the dark night of the soul.
Dawn broke, like an egg cracked on a skillet, bubbling into eastern sunlight stretching across the horizon. Cold, clear, calm. Trees chagrined at the exuberance and abandon that they had participated in the night before. Seemingly almost ashamed for their wild recklessness and sensual dance of delight
Weather radio, silent, subdued, compliant and no longer squawking its message of my imminent destruction. And if I no longer had any use for the thing, it would have been a long slow arching descent into the ocean, cast hard in my frustration and relief from the night before. The wind, the storm and the environment a reflection, mirror, of the turmoil and lack of discipline of my inner thoughts, creating my own inner storm of anxiety and trepidation.
Energy gain or loss your choice – always.
First step. Focus on the practice of directing your thoughts as compared to being directed by your thoughts. If your thoughts are running the show, you will experience a massive drain in energy, as I did on my solo trip.
Second step. The importance of language. What language do you use in your life? What words do you use to describe your actions, your choices, your reasons for doing what you do. Language invokes a mind state, and from this mind state / a thought, a feeling or emotion is created, internally. Emotions or feelings are energy pockets of fuel.
Third step. Purge the energy vampires in your life. The people who take time and energy from you, with little consideration for your needs. Also, the energy vampires of “priority”. The truth to life is that you are the priority.
Fourth step. Make sure that you are investing in your mission for your life on a daily basis. This is your unique contribution to humanity and moving forward in your life. Make decisions that align with your purpose, commit to these decisions, control what you can, then let go of the outcome.
Fifth step. Never forget your superpower of energy enhancement. The word “No”. Say no to things, people, activities, situations that you do not want to be in, or feeling obligated to be in. Say no, and feel the energy burst of being true to yourself.
Our energy is a precious resource and must be treated as such. Like that weather radio on a continual loop broadcast, be ruthless with the thoughts that are allowed residence in your internal space. If we can keep our energy pure, clear, strong and abundant we can create miracles in our lives on a daily basis, for ourselves and others.
The Book:
The Dirtbags Guide to Life. Tim Mathis
Definition of a dirtbag “A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle”.
A fun read, with some great insights and plenty of resources for living the dirtbag lifestyle, to whatever level of commitment is appropriate for you. The book is not so a much a read, then it is a manifesto, on how to live the dirtbag lifestyle, with plenty of examples.
Chapters include money, career, responsibilities, relationships and finding meaning in one’s life. A refreshing insight if you are considering a change, perhaps a readjustment to a more lifestyle-based existence, or the full commitment to following your heart and soul in the exploration of life.
Lots of free resources in the book to help you in your dirtbag vocation, related to the chapter, with examples form the author and his wife. I especially enjoyed the chapter on finding meaning. The author gives his personal philosophy on how to live according to your values and moving away from the success formula prescribed by society. 4/5