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Be Your Best

Published on 19/10/11
by randy

Success in life is about the vow and consequent courage to show up, pay attention, be/do your best, and to have the humility and grace to know we can’t control the outcome.  In today’s ‘busy’ world, too often we’re distracted from showing up.  The excusing mind creates many obstacles to meeting the situation the heart draws us to.  The restless mind often keeps us from showing up 100%.  And by definition, we can’t be our best if we’re less the fully present.

These past few days we’ve had strong fall winds and I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to play in the wind and water with fellow boardsport enthusiasts.  The power of fractal energy is at work when I find myself in the presence of others aiming to be their best.  I suppose you could call this ‘common sense’.  What you have in common with others influences you.  If you want to have a closed mind, hang with those who carry a closed mind.  If you want to have an open mind, hang with those who are curious, holding an open mind.  If you want to stagnate, hang with those who want to stagnate, staying the same.  If you want to deepen your life experience, surround yourself with others who want to deepen their life experience.  If you want to be your best, hang with others who want to be their best.

It seems that life begins at the edge of our comfort zone.  Pro snowboarder, Tom Burt, has defined ‘extreme’ as action just past our previous level of performance.  There’s a stepping into the unknown, but with a sense of stewardship.  If we’ve jumped a five foot cliff, the next step would be a few feet higher, not a fifty foot cliff.  There’s a love of life and a deep listening that feeds our sense of support in drilling deeper.  Some call this ‘Big Hope’, this felt sense of being supported by the universe (God, Source, etc.).  I suspect this is the essence of faith.

I recently competed in a windsurfing speed trial in Worthington, Minnesota.  I felt the support of a community, of the conditions presented, and the equipment provided.  Conditions manifested that allowed me to step from fear to a sense of surrender as the GPS unit on my arm registered speeds I’d never before reached.  I had shown up, practiced and trained in full attention, and was now able to lay down fear as I melted into the conditions that brought me to my best.  Being in the presence of other skilled riders aiming to their best supported me.  There was deep satisfaction in knowing I had given my whole heart to this action.  There was nothing comfortable about it, yet the action itself, at the moment of peak speed, was effortless.  I recall the famous quarterback, Joe Namath, saying his peak experience in football was when he felt he was being played by the manifesting conditions.  Rather than struggling to fill the desires of the grasping mind, there’s a release, a surrender to the non-struggling mind that’s filled with a deep sense of support from the conditions presented.  There’s an indescribable joy for the opportunity to participate, to just be vital in each unfolding moment.

So, if you want to cultivate your best, train in courage to show up, take up a solid practice in mindfulness/meditation, and cultivate a deep, abiding faith in the support of the universe.  Finally, cultivate humility and gratitude for the gift of the given, no matter what.  Life is mystery far beyond our control and our courage to keep showing up is fed through this awareness.

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