Heat under your feet

At 11 years old, I knew it was a stupid idea, but I was just so curious. You see, Saturdays are boring for us kids. Mom and dad are tired from a long week of work so they do a lot of resting. I try to play with my legos but I grow restless from doing the same old activities.

Bored and restless, an idea sparks in my head via a memory. "You know son, you're 8% Indian", I remember my father stating. The glorious fact is as crystal clear in my head as my Death Star Lego creation right in between my two bare feet.

With this memory in mind, I dart outside to our backyard as fast I can run. I stand in front of this brush pile that was only burnt a few days prior. For a second, I second guess the action I was about to partake in, but wisdom speaks as clear as day: "You should always act upon any & every idea that pops into your head!" (Wisdom from myself).

I start running full speed ahead, as my feet transition from the green blades of grass between my toes to the lukewarm subdued coals, I think to myself, "this isn't so bad!" After my fourth step, I realize this was a terrible idea as burning sensations shoot up my leg. With tears cooling down my cheeks, my feet feel as if they were disintegrating into nothing. I finally reach the other side of hell and leap into the grass!

Screaming, my parents sprint out of the house, from their 'restful' Saturday, pick me up and put my fee in ice water after getting back to the house. Still whimpering, my Mom turns to my Dad and says "Guess he's not playing in his basketball game this afternoon."

With the searing pain still so present, a new passion, a new motivational gear birthed inside of me. 

I say to myself, "I have to play". Three hours later, lacing my black feet in my sneakers, I take to the court and score six points that night. It might not seem like a lot of points but when the score is 13-8, you realize it matters.

I wonder if the greatest obstacles present an opportunity for a new version of ourselves? A version that has more grit than that of before. It's not even about the result as much as it is about simply rising up in the midst of a great obstacle.

What new obstacles are you going through that could potentially birth a new version of yourself?

P.S. Whatever obstacle, don't voluntarily burn your feet!