I KILLED 3 CHIPMUNKS IN 3 MINUTES!
Well, it was more like assisted suicide.
I was driving by myself to a Native American 4-day dance in 2013, the dancers would be fasting (No Food, No Water), praying, and dancing for 4 days.
Only a half mile from home, a chipmunk ran in front of the car and committed suicide under the right front tire.
I said, “Bless you little one. I love you and honor your sacrifice. I’ll remember to look up Chipmunk medicine.”
300 yard later a second chipmunk ran in front of the car. Splat!
“Holy Shit! That’s two! (looking up to Spirit) OK, I get it. I will look up chipmunk medicine . . . and bless you little one.”
A half mile later, number three!
(again, looking up to Spirit) “OK, I will stop now and look up chipmunk medicine. I get it!” I pulled over as soon immediately, said a prayer for little dude #3, and quickly searched for an answer on my phone.
As I got to the Dance, the dancer’s meeting was just starting, there were four first-time dancers.
After the dance chief gave his orientation talk, he asked if there was anything I wanted to share with the dancers.
I told the story of killing 3 chipmunks in 3 minutes and started sharing the teaching . . .
“Chipmunks are associated with the number 12, they have a 12 week gestation period, and we have 12 dancers here.
Chipmunks are MASTERS OF CURIOSITY!
Whenever they encounter something new, they GET CURIOUS!
They go check out the new thing and learn EVERYHTING THERE IS TO LEARN.
Then, ONLY AFTER BEING CURIOUS, they decide whether or not they should be scared.
So everyone, ESPECIALLY YOU 4 NEW DANCERS who have shown up here on a Friday and aren’t quite sure what you have gotten yourself into,
STEP IN – DIVE DEEP – WAIT UNTIL MONDAY TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT YOU NEED TO BE SCARED.”
Those 4 new dancers and half of the rest let out a relieved, nervous laugh.
Why am I sharing this? Our emotions and our internal life are the same way.
STEP THE FUCK IN! STEP CLOSER AND GET CURIOUS WHEN YOU ARE SCARED!
Go inside learn everything about what you are scared of inside. Write it out in a specific way.
Write down: “Right now, I am scared that _____________________ is true/going to happen. I learned to be scared of things like this when __________ happened in my past. When I get scared of that, my crazy mind chimes in and I start thinking __________ and __________ and __________.”
Our fears are bad enough as they are.
Our fears get bigger when we don’t know the full story they have to tell.
Our fears get TOTALLY UNMANAGEABLE when we don’t focus on the core fear and start all that thinking that makes up scary stories about what might happen!
STEP IN – GET CURIOUS WHAT THIS FEAR HAS TO TELL YOU ABOUT YOURSELF!
And while you are doing that, do the scariest thing you can do when you are scared,
STEP IN – ACTUALLY TAKE A STEP TOWARD THE PERSON YOU ARE WITH.
Say to them, “I’m scared. And I am scared to share what I am scared about. Will you listen while I share?”
Share with them what your inner CURIOSITY has uncovered inside.
While you share, thank them for listening, FOCUS ON YOUR OWN FEELINGS OF FEAR – don’t talk about your partner’s feelings, their actions, or whether or not you like what they have done.
Sharing our feelings – instead of reacting to our fears as if they have already happened is a skill. This skill is like having the right TOOL for the job at the right time.
Having the right emotional, spiritual, and communication tools is vital for living an AWESOME LIFE!
GET CURIOUS! STEP THE FUCK IN!
Be REAL. Be RAW. Make Your Life AWESOME!