#MotivationMonday Don’t Stop on the Coals

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.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcJ5bNVYg0]

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.