As we discuss expanding our beliefs and pushing ourselves to new limits beyond our previous boundaries it’s important to know where that strength and drive come from. I believe that we all have four centers of our beings that each provide their own strength and possibilities. But it is when all four centers are working together that we achieve truly remarkable achievements. Those four centers are our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual cores.
Sometimes, as in the case of a young woman lifting a car to save someone, we don’t even realize what our body is doing, which can be good because we don’t have time to question what we are capable of. If you ask the same person to try and lift a 1000 pounds or 500 or 200 pounds they probably couldn’t do it. But because they don’t have time to question their abilities they just do it and it isn’t until later that they realize what they have done.
When a soldier gets shot his body will respond by sending him tremendous pain and begin shutting down. The pain is important because it tells him that he must stop and get attention immediately. However, that same soldier when shot in the heat of battle with danger all around him may not feel the pain as much because his mind knows he cannot stop and seek attention at this time. He needs to get himself out of danger first, then his body will increase the pain to get him to seek attention.
Just as we build our physical bodies through pushing our limits in the gym or on the practice field we can learn exercises in each center to strive for mastery. Then when we put them together we recognize much greater results.
We see this often with professional athletes, who not only work on their physical strength, but also use practices like visualizing, meditation and affirmations to connect the physical with the mental, emotional and spiritual centers. Having physical strength is often not enough by itself. We need to have focus, conviction and drive. A determination that we won’t quit no matter how painful, or defeated we may feel, we will continue to push forward.
These incredible feats require us to apply all the centers of our body, but some are more mental than physical. Amy Racina was an experienced hiker. She was on day 12 of a 162 mile solo trip when she lost the path. As she made her way down the valley carefully looking for the trail, the ground suddenly gave way and she plummeted through the air 60 feet into a rocky ravine. Her face smashed, her legs were shattered and broken in several places one with a gaping wound exposing the bone. Her left hip was broken in two places and her arms and hands were badly bruised but thankfully not broken.
She was alone, broken and dying. But she decided she wanted to live and so set her mind to the task of survival. Her backpack was close by so she was able to use her merger supplies to clean the wounds as best she could and wrap the gaping wound in her right knee. “I had been ambivalent about life at times and been very depressed … but now I knew I really wanted to live,” she said.
For four days and nights she fought off despair by focusing on survival. During the day she dragged her body over the dirt down river in search of a trail and possible rescue. Battling pain, fear and exhaustion she survived through perseverance, faith and strength of will. It wasn’t until she was found that she allowed herself to really feel the fear. “I couldn’t afford to (feel) … but when I saw Jake, I burst into tears for the first time,” she said.
After finally being rescued she spent the next year in the hospital and physical therapy recovering from her injuries. Today she still hikes alone and finds peace and serenity in having overcome her near death experience. “No day is as bad as one of those days in the ravine,” she says with a smile. The “small stuff” just doesn’t bother her anymore.
Amy’s ordeal was one of mental strength. Sure, she was physically fit, but it was her mental focus and will to live that got her through. Had she allowed despair and fear to overcome her and destroy her hope she never would have survived.
The Challenge:
How can you exercise all the centers of your body? (Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual)
Do you take time to exercise, read, meditate, eat right, pray?
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”
— Rikki Rogers
