The Rise of Superman By Steve Kotler
What an unbelievable book! Well
written pulling me to the edge of my seat every time I opened it. There is
something I love deeply about adventure sports. I love to ski, a daredevil I am
not. Which may strike you as odd that I
love this book as much as I do. If you’re an adrenaline junkie in any form,
this book is easily addictive. As Steve describes Danny Way’s jump off the
China Wall or how a surfer can “know in flow” what to do at the last second to
save him from certain death and one wrong move, this book is for you.
Throughout the book he tell athlete after athlete that musters up the inner
strength, the mental control, the emotional cam in flow to do what has never
been done before. To break barriers that most would say is impossible. Crazy.
Completely stupid. The underlining message throughout the book, in every story
is taking a closer look to see how “flow” is possible in our everyday life.
There is such a powerhouse message in this. To tap into flow is to push our
mental boundaries of imagination, to look into history at those that came
before us and learn from them. To then “stand on the shoulders of giants” (as I
have written before in a previous blog several years ago after CFMT testing)
and launch ourselves, our fields, and (for me) our faith FAR past what we imagine
is possible. To imagine ourselves there is to see it, dream it, and watch it happen.
That’s where I will leave you with
this thought. In the book, Steve addresses that certain athletes have to have a
“zone” where faith cannot enter. That sole focus must happen to channel you
into the zone so far that you are committed to the task, the feat, the abyss in
a sense and for faith to enter that is just shear distraction. (If you know me,
hang with me!) I would have to agree. Faith is what centers you first. It is
something that you have done business with far beyond entering this kind of
zone. It is something you have squared away and know where you stand with God
and daily you are working your faith out with fear and trembling. Faith, for me, is what fuels that zone. I’ve
done the mental, spiritual, emotional business because to bring that in once
your attempting to enter the zone or flow would be just that. Distracting. It
makes you second guess. Instead of KNOWING that you enter the zone with God,
business taken care of, faith grounded, you don’t have to second guess that
entering your zone. You can just let it FLOW. And here’s the greater challenge
still. Knowing that you are squared away with God, planted and rooted in HIM,
who tells us daily that with HIM NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE. This should be your new
zone. You now enter flow with more than your ability and yourself. You enter
with the Holy Spirit. And if that does not launch you into spiritual flow and
your zone, I don’t know what else would. Because that is a supernatural power
source. Plugged into Him, letting Him release your true ability and flow….now
that is tapping into the realm of ALL things possible. That’s the kind of daily
flow I want to live. Knowing that God is building something bigger and better
and I just have to be a focused, disciplined, willing vessel to fall into a
zone where I can be used to level far above my ability! Anything IS possible.
