“Well it’s about as high as an eleven story building” answered Luis our tour guide to the Mayan ruins.
“Um-hm. And just how many people have fallen off this thing?”
“Oh no-one Miss Susan. I assure you, it’s very safe.”
“Well then Luis, how come you’re down here on the ground with me while everyone else is hiking up that 11 story pyramid?”
“You’re funny. I’ve been up there a million times before. The view is next to nothing I have ever seen. It goes high above the treetops.”
That may have been so, but this was Belize and this was the jungle and not some amusement theme park ride back home in New Jersey. There were no safety bars, no safety rails, no crash helmets, no harnesses and no nets to save those unlucky people that lost their footing and went tumbling down the face of the pyramid. Each step was about half the size of my own foot and the climb was not just an eleven story climb up but a steep eleven story climb up. And the closest hospital was about an hour and a half’s ride by boat down the Lamani river. I sat firmly planted on the bench watching as my friends slowly became little tiny specs clinging to the face of the pyramid as they made their way to the top.
“It’s paralyzing huh Miss Susan?”
“What?”
“Fear. It paralyzes you. Makes you stuck to that bench that’s for sure. Know what I do about fear? Ha! I don’t think about it!”
“Easy for you to say Luis.”
“No, for sure I know this one first hand! When I was a little boy my grandfather brought me here to teach me about my heritage. We hiked all through the jungle and then came out to the clearing, just like you did, only to be standing face to face with this, the Great Temple Pyramid. My grandfather was so excited to take me to the top, but like you, I was paralyzed with fear and my feet were frozen. He told me that if you let yourself succumb to fear your life will be a prison. He said here is what you do…. First you don’t think about it. You don’t think about what might happen 5 seconds from now or 2 hours from now. You just think about now. You focus on what is exactly right in front of you to do. You focus on that very step you are climbing up. Then, you keep your mind busy. You ready for this? You just sing your favorite song to yourself over and over.”
“So, you want me to climb that pyramid by singing a song?”
“It works I’m telling you. Oh yeah, and probably the most important thing…. Before you start you think about how you wanna feel on the way back.”
“I don’t get it”
“Well, you came all the way here to Belize, you traveled almost two hours on the river, you hiked through the jungle only to sit on a bench. What’s gonna happen when your friends come back down? What are they gonna be talking about on the hike back? On the boat ride? At dinner tonight? What do you wanna be doing? You wanna be feeling proud of yourself and joining in on the conversation or you wanna be sitting in the corner arm in arm with your good friend fear. You see, as my grandfather told me, you don’t have to be reckless; you can be cautious and live your life in a good way. You wanna be fearful? You may as well be dead.”
After a few moments of contemplating Luis’ grandfather words I asked “Hey Luis, what’s your grandfather’s name?”
“It’s Ellio, but why?”
“I want to know who to blame if I go tumbling down this thing” I said grabbing my backpack.
“Don’t forget to sing!!” Luis laughed.
I have a small white stone that I carry in my pocket from time to time. It came from the top of that Great Temple Pyramid at Lamani, Belize. It reminds me of an important lesson that I learned from a wise old Mayan grandfather about overcoming fear.
Fear is a paralyzing prison. Overcoming it lies in believing that you can, in keeping your thoughts present in that very moment, and in being relentlessly focused on the task at hand in that very second.
Thank you Grandpa Ellio. Your wisdom spans the generations, the times and absolutely the continents. Oh yeah, and most importantly, don’t forget to sing!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment