Lessons Learned from a Green Iguana

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The fable below is more of an insult to the Iguana than to whom I was thinking about when I wrote the paragraph. We all know someone as outlined in the paragraph, but do we recognize our self in parts of it?

The above photo is a male iguana and he carries the outward appearance of an executive with a big title. I sat and watched this iguana and kept visualizing how, if it could talk, it would spout a lot descriptive dialogue about all its smartness compared to the other less colorful iguanas. I bet it would assume because of its appearance (i.e. Big Title) the other iguanas hang on its every word not realizing the other iguanas are there because of the green grass (i.e. paycheck). I bet this iguana never hears a word the other iguanas offer up as advice and probably consistently talks over the others. I bet he would highlight all the other important reptiles and animals he knows and maybe say something like “I just had lunch with the Howler Monkey and we are in deep negotiations on expanding our papaya operations.” However, the one critical point the iguana is missing is humility and, in fact, doesn’t seem to realize he is just a lizard like all the other iguanas he tends to lecture.

We as humans are the worst at seeing ourselves as we really are in the world and, more importantly, we desire to project plastic images of our self. The brain consistently lies to us and does so for self-preservation, ego, and fear of rejection. We tend to read all the press about our positives and negate all our faults. I believe it causes us to always be in risk mitigation mode where we simply don’t make the best choices for ourselves. In effect, like a cat in the sandbox, we work hard to cover up our faults which are really fear based decisions. Additionally, if we worked to be self-aware of our faults and acknowledge those faults, we could free ourselves of the stress and depression that is an epidemic in this country. In other words, when we die into our limitations, we free ourselves from those limitations. Of course, with all our political correctness today, society encourages hiding of our individuality and any misstep today can result in being an outcast in social media, loss of a job, or labeled a family renegade.  What would happen to your career if you challenged “corporate” from running off your top revenue producers while replacing them with administrative secretaries with fancy titles?  “Beheading by the Cube Monkeys” … so you follow the herd mentality rule which dictates that you stay in the mentality of the pack which is the safest.  Oddly, the family unit is the worst place to display our limitations so we learn to hide from everybody including the most important person which is our self. We become a fake. I do have action steps that will empower you to work on freeing the self-imposed bondage…

Step one: Admit you are awesome, BUT you have some flaws that you aren’t self-aware of at this point. Acknowledge the ones you are working so hard to keep a secret.  This isn’t about announcing these issues but refocusing your energy to be self-aware and improving on these faults which will in fact free yourself of those self-imposed boundaries. You can peel off the “mask” of cover up. No one… NO one is perfect.

Step two: Challenge yourself about the accuracy of your assessment at the point where you perceive something strongly or have a strong opinion. Play the devil’s advocate.

 

Our comfort zone SCREAMS for cover up, but our soul screams for freedom from our self-imposed bondage. “Thy Self Be True” comes with an enormous amount of liberation, but you must take it in baby steps.

Final thought, if you are constantly in the middle of the herd, aren’t you really looking at someone’s butt all day? Just food for thought…

Also, if you happen to wonder as to whom the Green Iguana is in the fable?

It was ME.

PURA VEDA

Category: Educational

Lessons learned from jumping from a plane

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A lesson learned from skydiving: jumping from a plane is truly about taking a leap of faith. What else could it be, rolling out of a plane at 13,000 feet? Boy, it was a miserably cold the day I had set up to do a tandem jump from a plane. I could not feel my fingers at one point, but I was committed to scratching  this one thing off my bucket list. I tried not to put much thought into the decision as I rolled into the parking lot of the hanger. In some respects the cold was a good thing. At least it gave me an excuse for shaking. All manner of doubts are going through my mind as the plane ascends to the proper height, and the guy that holds my life in his hands is strapping me tightly into his harness. I was asking myself why, when other people are sitting in front of a fire watching sports, or venturing out for a day of shopping on this cold Saturday, that I had paid good money to be hurled out of a plane? The true pinnacle of fear is when the door slides open and you butt scoot to the opening so your feet can dangle out side the plane. None of this is natural in the order of life. Every fiber of my being was begging me to reconsider.  I knew true fear then, and I hoped it didn’t force me to wet my pants. I keep thinking back to the times I used to drink and wanted to yell to some phantom stewardess for a double of the hard stuff. But like they say, “The first step is the hardest.” I mean, once you roll out the plane you can’t roll back into it, so the next stop is the bottom floor, and I hope at a controlled descent. As a side note, I have watched Break Point so many times and I was under the delusion that it was somewhat peaceful, falling to earth, but when you are falling at 32 feet per second peaceful is the wrong word. The noise of the wind passing your ears and the violence of the air hitting your face is beyond belief. I was wearing goggles and still managed to blow a contact out of one eye. No time for fear at this point, nor the thought of frozen, pee-pee pants, because I was caught in what seemed like one heck of a storm, minus the rain and lightning. But good gracious that wind! My face was blown back behind me….. When the guy riding on my back (and truly my life line) deployed the parachute, just a tenth of a second of space with the deploying of the chute, and then I felt true peace. It was truly magical to look out over all the farms, the cars, the buildings, and the cows looking like ants with nothing between you and your view. I was suspended like a mobile over a baby’s crib, seeing nothing but the goodness of all things in view. I thought that this must be what God saw when looking out over the creation of life. Maybe when an Angel first arrives to conduct some business this view is what holds them together and keeps them optimistic about some of the dirtier details they are forced to sort out at the lower levels and the view they last see when they depart. Maybe it keeps them coming back and for me, and all my faults, I am thankful.

Category: Educational
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