The art of making things happen

“Never underestimate the feeling of gut. But never believe that it is enough. ”~ Robert Heller

A few months ago, when I almost finished producing a teleseminar and spent so much time listening to a computer, I decided to do something different. Something that can bring me happiness, that can take me out of my normal routine and make me truly happy.

So, I made a long list of things to do: I flew away.

I had no idea what to expect to make the 45-minute trek to the hills of Sonoma County to fly on a trapeze. I just knew I had been wanting to do it for a while and it was closer than when that dress I was looking for in Texas (which was also out).

I also knew that I had to leave because the mere thought of flying among the trees made me happier than anything I had ever done in a long time.

I took the trip alone because no one wanted to join me and found out why I was waiting? Greetings, what I learned, was a group of women who meet every weekend.

One of the women in her seventies came as often as she could. He was flying in the sky making twists without a harness. (He got his driver's license for sixty-six years, which gives you a clue about him!)

One woman was a single mother who came with her son every weekend and made this her downfall.

Marek, owner or Trapeze Pro explained the rules for flying:

“Smile and listen. Those are just two of the rules you need to follow to succeed in the trapeze. ”

I've been waiting to hear more. Smile are you listening? Is that all? How does that work?

But when I hit it, it was interesting how those two commands helped me fly through the air. As I listened and took action at the time they told me, grace would take over and my air movement would not be so strong.

While driving home, I saw how the two commandments apply to life.

The purpose of the smile command is to release resistance.

If you take anything new where fear can enter, like flying in a trapeze, you have to find a way to tell your fear that you are right, that this is right. That you will be right. Smiling is a decision, and in making this deliberate decision, you set the tone for your experience.

This reminds me of one of the wisest teachers I have ever met. Whenever I complained about something I should do but didn't want to do, he would tell me: Change your mind.

Decide what you want to do. Decide if there is anything wrong with you. Decide that you will have a good time doing it. And consistently, I can - but it puts me, not in my circumstances, in handling that decision. I think the same idea is going to smile.

The command to listen was very interesting. Darrel, part of the team that held the ropes down, watched us fly and set the time we did.

We should have listened to his plea to bring our legs over the bar because from his point of view, he knew the exact time when the wind would be behind me and kindness would take its place.

Outside of the caller's world, this listening command is important because our sense of humor - our supreme direction, the universe, whatever you want to call it - has the same place of view.

There is ground control who want to help us with our momentum. He knows what we are looking for and a quick route to get there. We get hunches, we get directions, we get challenges, but how often do we follow them?

While Darrel gave me instructions from below, I kept asking him questions.

"Now?" I was begging.

"Yeah, now," he would say. After that he would say, "Okay, now turn your legs back and forth."

And I was repeating, “Swing my legs back and forth? How do I do that? ”

He would say, "Yes, Sonya, back and forth. The way it sounds, back and forth."

And I'd say, "Now?"

And he would say, "Yes, now!"

When I finally passed (it was the first time) and crossed the net safely, he came under me and said, jokingly, "It shouldn't have been an argument, Sonya."