I wasn’t going to do it. After all, part of my life philosophy is “If you don’t want something bad to happen you, remove all possibility for it to happen.”

Today the opportunity presented itself for me to walk barefoot across an area of broken glass from bottles.

Was it a test of faith? Not for me. I figured they wouldn’t do it if it was actually really dangerous.

Was it a way to challenge your beliefs? Not for me. I knew I could do it because I have done things like this before.

So why should I bother?

Well, the question was put to us like this,

“What positive thoughts can I have about this?
What does it show me?
What can I learn from it?.”

So, I did it. After I was done I jotted down some notes while I watched and listened to others who were doing it. It turns out I learned quite a bit.

Here is a list of thoughts I came up with in no particular order. Maybe some will speak to you.

  1. Concentration, focus, and navigating actions.
    1. While I was doing it my mind was 100% concentrated, 100% focused, and I was navigating my feet not through fear and panic but through body awareness.
    2. This reminded me of singing arias. You have to concentrate like that to navigate through the passages of an aria in opera. It takes concentration, focus, and navigating through the notes.
  2. The ability to stay calm in stress situations and be able to act with a peaceful mind.
  3. Balance – It is difficult to move forward if you are off balance because there is no secure base inside you.
  4. The importance of having a wise guide and mentor.
    1. To have someone you can trust to steady you in times of uncertainty.
  5. Eliminates Distractions
    1. Because you are focused and concentrating on what you are doing, everything else surrounding you seems to disappear. Distractions fall away and you stay on task.
  6. Others will support you on your path.
    1. Nobody can do the walk for you. That you have to do alone.
    2. But, others will support you on your path because they care about you and your well being.
  7. You have confidence because you know that you will not allow yourself to get hurt.
    1. Why? Because your entire body depends on it.
    2. You are there for yourself in times of need.
    3. You can trust yourself.
  8. Patience
    1. You don’t move hastily but take your time. You are patient because it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, it only matters that you get there, safe.
    2. It gives you time to make adjustments.
    3. When you are moving faster you are moving into the danger of being out of control, when you move slower you enter an area of heightened safety.
    4. It proves to you that you have patience in you and that you can take your time to get through anything because it gives you control.
  9. Meditation in Action
    1. You automatically calm your breathing and calm your mind to the task at hand. Suddenly you have a graceful power which makes your movements smooth and under control.
    2. Consecrated Action: The ability to act out of serenity and not out of disturbance.
  10. Inauthentic versus Authentic Fear
    1. You don’t lie to yourself. The sharp broken glass is dangerous. The glass is real. It is an authentic fear.
    2. You realize that the fear in your mind is inauthentic and isn’t going to serve you well to get you through the glass so you suddenly realize that the fears in your head are just thoughts and aren’t to be trusted and they get tossed aside and now you can stretch out your senses and think precisely about what you are doing.

The glass represents the subconscious mind, fears,
and whatever guilt or negative feelings you have from your past.

At some point the next day it occurred to me as I reflected on what happened at this event that although we really didn’t know what was to come of the exercise, we discovered a fundamental truth about ourselves without it having been put into words.

The metaphor of the broken glass represented our subconscious fears, our guilt, our insecurities, our jaded pasts, and anything else that fills us with those feelings of being insufficient in some way.

We all walked on our fears, our pasts, our guilts, our insecurities, and our jaded pasts that have come back over and over again to hurt us and have been hindering us from living our lives to the fullest. We all did the walk the same way. We prepared ourselves, Rob Fore guided us with a gentle touch to balance us and coach us through it. We walked slowly, patiently, but purposefully until we had passed through the course unscathed.

Yes, we all have things that hurt us over and over again. We have unresolved guilt that tortures our souls. We have experiences in life that cause us great pain and heartache. BUT! We can conquer it because no matter what our issues are we have the power to prevail over them. Everyone did and I believe this unspoken truth is what has gotten to everyone since the event.

We didn’t have any idea that we would all be so moved by this event. Nobody went around with any idea that what happened there would or even could happen. It isn’t like we were at church retreat or some holistic guru event thing to get in touch with our selves. This was an event about freedom, business, marketing, and leading a happy life.

Metaphor for Life Situations

So this is all fine and good, but how can we use this in our everyday lives? What situations in life arise where we can fall back on the lessons learned and be able to handle them with the same kind of presence and awareness we handled the glass?

Whenever you sense fear, stress, becoming upset and out of control over your emotions the lessons learned from Walking on Broken Glass can help you navigate it.

If someone says something to you which upsets you in any way. You stop, you look at the glass, you wait, you place your self in motion but very thoughtfully and carefully because by acting with haste will usually result in getting you outside of your zone of control, into a fight, and feeling worse and worse and worse. It injures you and the relationship you have with that person.

If you feel traffic rage because someone is driving aggressively or not doing what you think they should do then this metaphor teaches us to slow down and calm our minds and our actions, be patient and step aside of the dangerous sharp points which will cut us and make us feel much worse than we did before. In such stressful situations it is important to know that you don’t have to react but can act in a manner which defuses the situation and moves you and others out of danger.

When you put yourself out there in front of others in the world you know that there is the possibility that you will get criticized and possibly attacked for what you are doing. That is an authentic fear. It is certainly part of being a leader. This metaphor teaches you that even though you know what is in front of you is dangerous to a certain degree you can learn to navigate through it with calmness and ease.

You take control. It is never about the thing. It is about me not the thing I want to blame it on. I have no control over things outside of my control, but I have control over me and I will use it.

Evaluate. Be calm. Have patience. Take consecrated action.

Getting Questions Answered

Why did I even attend Freedom Fest 1?

I have been very confused about what I am doing going forward. I couldn’t figure out why nothing was holding any “magic” for me, why I couldn’t see the future at all.

I am starting a new era in my life. It is all wide open in front of me. But I haven’t felt anything about what it was I should be doing or how I should do it, whatever “it” is.

I was curious how Mike and Paul are able to sustain their business over so many years, day after day, week after week, despite all of the things that happen to you in business. What gave them the energy to keep it up that long.

I asked the question to everyone on the panel, “How do you keep going?” They all had wonderful answers. I believe the common denominator would have to be they do what they do …


…for a higher purpose,
for love, to serve,
and to speak power into people.

Whatever needs doing they do with a complete commitment to “I’ll be there for you.”

Not since my days in college choir at WKU have I been around a group of people who were in such a search for meaning in their lives, in what they are doing, and to experience each day with meaning and purpose, with open arms, a kind smile, a gentle warm hug, and to simply show people that they really do care.

You see, it doesn’t matter “what” we do for a living or for a career, what really matters is “how” we do it. What really matters is not playing to win, not to succeed, not to become rich and/or famous, and not to impress anyone. It is nice if some of those things happen along the way, but what really matters is if you do what you do with meaning, purpose, love, caring, and without asking for anything in return.

Karma Yoga, consecrated action, being mindful in the present moment is all important, but within that it is to do things which can provide real service, or loving kindness, to others.

I remember one day I went to a Sprüngli “Konditorei” in Zürich, Switzerland. I bought a small bag of freshly made dark chocolate truffles. The woman at the counter smiled at me and said, “And here is one for right now! Aufwiedersehen!” She did her job, sure. But, she made my day by adding a little more love in what she was doing. It made her feel good, it made me feel good, plus I could have the truffle without having to open the bag!