Hi Again.
If you haven’t heard, I am hosting an event in the town of Tepoztlán, Mexico June 18-22, 2023. It’s a mission trip, but more. Early registration ends May 1st. In this post, I’ll explain perturbation.
You are excited today.
You’re going skydiving for the first time. It’s been on your bucket list on an off for years and you finally decided to act. You found a reputable place with thousands of positive reviews, paid your fee, put the date in your calendar and told a bunch of people. You even checked their insurance policy and licenses.
The big day arrives and you’re stoked for a unique experience. Something a very small number of people on earth have ever done and you feel a sense of pride and (if you really want to admit it) superiority. You show up, having read the instructions a dozen times and talked to friends who have done this before you
.
Your instructor is an affable, confident, mature and daresay handsome dude named Elliot. You’re nervous, but you knew you would be. Probably just the excitement coming through. You board the plane, it taxies and VROOOOM! You are up, up and away! You reach elevation and Elliot double checks your gear. After all, he’s jumping with you. Since there are others in the plane with their instructors, you have to wait your turn.
All of a sudden, your heart is hammering in your ribcage and you think, “WhatthefuckamIdoing?” Elliot smiles and gives you the thumbs up, but you cannot move your arm to return the gesture. You feel thick and numb. He’s attached to you and kind of hip thrusts you forward, toward the gaping hole in the side of the plane, inch by inch. The wind is deafening. He yells in your ear, “THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT! YOU GOT THIS!! And you yell back, “FUCK YOU ELLIOT!! I HATE YOU!” And, “I CHANGED MY MIND! JUST TAKE ME DOWN!!” Elliot smiles and hip thrusts you a bit more. Now the cavernous hole in the side of a perfectly good plane looks out upon a large swath of Planet Earth, and your mind bucks, body pushing back with the little power you have left in your legs. Elliot is yelling instructions in your ear but nothing computes; your mind is squirming like a rat stuck with a fork. You are supposed to cross your arms across your chest but you notice Elliot is prying your white knuckles off the wall of the plane. You are absolutely not ready and you are sure you are going to die. Before you can think of another protest, Elliot launches you both into the void and you scream…
But then something happens.
You feel an exhilaration like nothing else. This is better than you thought it would be. You are floating, flying, soaring. The smile on your face is the widest it’s ever been. When you touch the ground, and detach from Elliot, you thank him and hug him like you’ve known him your whole life. The euphoria is dizzying. He knew. And you think, “WHEN CAN I DO THIS AGAIN?” A bucket list item completed.
You just experienced perturbation. It is an anxiety; a mental uneasiness of Olympic caliber. But you got to the other side.
At Design Your Life, you will have moments where you want to retreat, back out, play small and be comfortable. Of course, not all of it, but you’ll know (and I’ll know) when this occurs. My job is to hold you in the space where you MUST grow. And you’ll deal with your mind in perhaps a new way in order to get the effect or the result you intended. Ultimately the outcome is that you’re a better chiropractor. This is why intention and centering is critical to live an inner directed life.
Of course, in the end, you might be hugging and thanking me profusely, but it is you who will have done the growing. And you’ll be able to carry the insights, lessons, super powers gained for the rest of your life.
Spread the word by sharing this with a friend. Let’s grow together.
Love, Elliot Dr. Danny
Hi Danny, I'm interested in what you are doing in Mexico - I am not a DC or student, but RN with Physical Therapy experience.