So there you are, in the middle of moving toward a big goal, and suddenly, things get hard – real hard. You want to give up. The hill seems insurmountable. The coals are too hot. Don’t stop, you’re almost there!
My Firewalk Experience
In 2011, I was undergoing a whirlwind of personal transformation. I’d left an abusive marriage, I’d found myself becoming more spiritual and attending a Methodist church, and I lost a significant amount of weight through falling in love with running. It only made since, then, that once I met Claudia Weber, I would walk across fire through her Ignite Your Spirit firewalk and motivational talk.
After a long talk, Claudia shouts, “What is your purpose?”
I yell back: “To get to the other side!”
“Go! Go! Go!” She and the other firewalkers shout after me. And go, I went. Here’s the video of that firewalk.
What I did not do, however, was stop in the middle of the coals. That would have been stupid.
I wound up going across those coals three times that night – and I wound up breaking an arrow with my neck. I really wanted to embrace a new life. Four days later, I met my now-husband. Almost a year later, we got married – and I talked him into the craziness of walking across hot burning wood chips with me hours after we got married.
You know what we didn’t do?
We didn’t stop on the coals. We still haven’t. And believe me, life has flung some flaming-hot coals at us.
What does walking across fire have to do with anything?
Since walking across fire, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been in the middle of working toward a goal – from a personal goal to a business goal, from a tough training run to a 5k, and I’ve thought, “Forget it, it’s too hard. I quit!” You know what happens? That voice pops in my head: WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?
And I answer it, and I go, go, go. I don’t stop on the coals. I keep going, pushing further toward the other side, thinking only of the end result, until I get there. So now, I turn to you. What is your purpose? Go! Get there! Do it!
Don’t stop on the coals.
Keep moving when it gets hard.
You’ve got this.
Hello there, and welcome to my page! I have been working as a full-time freelance writer and editor since 2008 when I decided that while I rather enjoyed philosophy, the Ph.D. program I was in was not a good fit for my life goals. Since then, I have published many papers and articles, started two blogs, worked as a senior editor for a magazine, served on the board of a start-up non-profit organization, and walked across fire.
I strongly believe that it is important to work to make the world a better place – one project at a time. I’ve worked with Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program to construct living quarters for those in need, written content for Stonewall Alliance, and edited the newsletter for my local natural foods cooperative. One of the blogs I founded, Activism My Way is dedicated to helping people get involved with causes they feel passionate about.
Although my academic background is in philosophy and social and political theory, my heart has always been in writing fiction and poetry. I have a novel in progress, and I am working on putting together a collection of short stories to share with readers. I also worked as part of a creative team on a project with a hip hop artist that involved world-building and creating an amazing back story to a concept album. I have worked with several authors to edit their novels (as well as dissertations, children’s books, journal articles, and non-fiction projects).
Non-fiction topics I have written about include pop culture and philosophy, project management, business startups and management, insurance, technology, and much more. I also have created web content for a wide variety of clients (ranging from gas station owners to hotels to lawyers), and I’ve had an opportunity to interview some amazing people (Michele May, Kevin Sorbo, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Mark Victor Hansen to name only a few). Needless to say, I love what I do.
I enjoy photography, and my subjects these days are usually my children as well as food, beverages, craft projects, and other such things for my blog, Wining Wife™. My favorite subjects are landscapes, nature (particularly clouds, flowers, and trees), and architecture.
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Ronda Bowen 
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