In the Summer of 2003, my family and I traveled to the outskirts of St. Louis. We have relatives who live there that we forged a special bond with when they lived three hours North of us in the suburbs of New Jersey.
In the 15 plus years since their eventual move to the Midwest, they had bought a cabin smack dab on the edge of the famous Ozark lakes. A few days after our arrival, we decided to rent a pontoon boat and head out into the well traversed waters already filled with a plethora of boats of all shapes and sizes.
With a boat filled with over 10 enthusiastic family passengers, we set sail for an afternoon of watershed fun! Boy, did we get WAY more than we ever bargained for. (Note to SELF) Have an experienced boat navigator on board before even thinking about shimming your floating vessel out into very deep waters!
That particular afternoon happened to have a near record setting amount of boats enjoying their weekend time of frolic filled fun! Little did we know that such a cacophony of water cruising causes ginormous wakes. They began to hammer our poor pontoon boat into something akin to an amusement park ride. I was at the very front of the boat catching the sun rays and amazing smells that are conjured up during such a fortuitous day out in the middle of nature's magic.
About an hour into our trip, I began to notice the boat starting to rock and roll as the waves began to grow into a formidable foe. As we tried to navigate the boat closer to shore to escape the constant pounding of punishing waves, I felt a very cold tingling sensation slowly creeping up my legs. I looked down to see that the front of the boat was quickly filling with water!
I ushered my torso to get a glance of the back of the boat. Holy guacamole! It was nearly ten feet up in the air, taking many of my family members with it. Within seconds, I felt the water rising all around me as I desperately tried to climb to the back of the boat. Then the better part of my fight or flight instincts kicked in and I realized that I needed to jump out of the boat. And PRONTO! So I flipped myself over the pontoon's side rails quicker than a ferret striking back at its sneaky snake foe. My 200 pounds of weight now having been released from the boats' bow caused the back of the fragile cruiser to drop back down into the water!
"First one to shore, drinks are on me!" I shouted to the emotionally charged group still residing within the confines of the boat. I on the other hand found myself still shell shocked, wading by myself in the cold waters of the Ozark lake.
Thankfully, we were eventually able to navigate the boat back to its home base. I was so blessed to have only a bruised leg to show from my efforts to keep our boat safely afloat. As I was washing the sand and water off my torso, I told everyone in our group to go ahead without me, because I was going to immediately start taking pontoon boat captain lessons! LOL
SUPERHEROES IN TRAINING TAKEAWAYS
Life is so very much about timing. It's not so much about what you do, but when you do it! Sometimes you will have to make "the jump" before you feel ready. Just as I did on the pontoon boat that day! Other times, you will be given the space to prepare before taking a leap of FAITH.
I was recently watching an episode of The Steve Harvey Show. Standing like a preacher of passion in front of this live studio audience, Steve began to give a rousing speech, “I'm going to tell you something that EVERY single successful person has to do. Including you. EVERY SUCCESSFUL PERSON IN THIS WORLD HAS TAKEN THE JUMP. You have to take that gift, which comes packed away on your back, you have to jump off that cliff and pull that chord. That gift opens up and provides the SOAR. And if you don't use it, you are going to continue to get up everyday and just go to work. And if you continue getting up every day going to a job that you hate, THAT'S NOT LIVING.” Preach Steve, PREACH!
Steve has of course done this himself, and understands the challenges that are a natural part of the process. His point especially fleshed out when he says, “If you want to live your life in a comfort zone, it will become your FAILURE ZONE. In order to become successful, you are going to have to become uncomfortable. Do not sit here in fear, and let fear control your fate. Because you won't go ANYWHERE. I'm going to tell you something about the JUMP you need to know. Jumping is scary. When you first jump, your parachute is NOT going to open up right away. I would love to tell you that it would. That when you leave your job, the parashute is not going to open right away. It's not going to happen that way. You are going to get some skin torn off you on the rocks during the way down. At times it is going to feel like an uncontrollable tumble. But let me tell you this, if you NEVER jump, your parachute will never open. YOU WILL NEVER SOAR. You will be safe, with your parachute still on your back. All your skills and talents still packed away and you will never get cut up. But if you NEVER take that jump, YOU WILL NEVER SOAR. If you don't jump, I am going to tell you something. You will never know. You may be the best at what you do, but you will NEVER know. You have to jump, everybody has to take the jump.” And I could't agree more. One of my definitions of a SIN, is unfulfilled potential.
Steve began to cry as he spoke, the obvious experience of his own pain and challenges, and the courage it took for him to take that jump , and the sense of fulfilled purpose it brought him was so evident without him saying a single word. Simply crying on stage said it all.
This segment resonated with me on SO many levels that I started to tear up myself. It took me over 15 years to take the jump. And I have NEVER been happier, or more fulfilled than I currently do at this moment in my life. I have no regrets, as each and every experience I was collecting along my Superhero's Journey was preparing me for this moment!
With the precarious state of the world, with mass shootings and acts of random violence and terrorism filling our airwaves on a nearly daily basis, I have a theory. And it is why I am so PASSIONATE about what I do as a coach and inspirational thought leader. I truly believe, the quickest way to change the world is to help people Re-member why they are here. As a collective consciousness WE HAVE LOST OUR PURPOSE. And to fill the void of not taking the jump to fulfill the DESTINY that is part of our essence, we are chasing false idols, and quite frankly, have become truly lost. From my own experience, I have learned that the ONLY thing that will permanently fulfill the longing in our hearts and souls, the void of disconnection from Spirit, is following our Divine Purpose. That is what this blog is all about. Inspiring all New Age Nerds to awaken and truly live their LEGACY. Doing so is a spiritual balm that helps heal the deepest wounds and fractures in our own BEING and amongst one another.
I know only too intimately how much a comfortable life may seem appealing. But after a while, it leaves you with a deep feeling of unfulfilled potential. And that is when depression, anxiety, drugs, alcohol, and other self sabotaging behavior slowly start to creep into our experience. AND it can sneak up on you if you aren't careful. Trust me!!!
Please do not misunderstand me. I am NOT saying everyone should up and leave their current jobs to pursue their dreams and follow their PURPOSE. It takes vision, and a sound plan put in place first. But at some point, it will be so critical to step up to the Edge of Life and TAKE THE JUMP toward the very reason you came here to BE! And that, my friends, is when MIRACLES become commonplace and LOVE abounds!! And more importantly, the moment you truly commit to your purpose, the Universe will rush in and flood your experience with anything and everything you need to survive! Now doesn't that sound like a life truly worth living?!?
One thing I do know is that once you truly commit to a path in life, your guardian angels will swoop in to assist you in every manner possible. Just as they did by giving me the quick insight to jump off that boat before I was ready.
BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-Serve-Inspire
Nerdmaste,
Jeffrey Louis Martinez
Jeffrey Louis Martinez
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