Hey , cool cats! If you're—geez—almost anywhere in the U.S. except the Pacific northwest, you know one thing is true: it's HOT!! Is the globe warming?? Or are we just having a heat wave? I realized the other day that I hadn't heard the term "heat wave" in a really long time...is that because our meteorologists are completely invested in global warming? Or have I just not been watching TV?
Anyway, here in Augusta the high tomorrow is projected to be 99 degrees. This calls for serious measures. So here's what we did: we went to Walmart.
First of all, Walmart is air conditioned. (But crossing that incredibly huge asphalt parking lot makes you want it even more.) Secondly, Walmart has FLOATS. And not just any floats, but floats that fold up into little packages and carry bags so that you can easily carry them to the beach. Or where ever. Because as you probably already know, Augusta doesn't have a beach. What is does have is a RIVER.
The Savannah River, in fact. And the truth is, I'm not really in Augusta, GA...I'm in North Augusta, SOUTH CAROLINA. Which is right on the other side of the Savannah River. My house is across the street from the Savannah River. I have a front hang-out room (I refuse to call it a "sitting room") that we call The River Room, because it has a small view of the river.
But what's really cool is that my swanky development has a public dock that nobody uses. So, we bought our floats and a little cooler, filled the cooler with beer, drove a block to the dock, and jumped in the river. We tied our floats to the dock, stuck a couple of cold ones in our drink holders (we specifically chose the floats for their drink-holding design), and floated the afternoon away. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again today. This time we also brought snacks and books. Perfect. We believe we've solved our summer heat problem.
What's amazing us is that no one else is jumping in the river. Lots of boats go by, jet skis, water skiers, tubers...but no actual swimmers. My boyfriend paddled his float to the other side of the river and talked to some kids that were hanging out in the riverfront park. A little girl said, "how do you do all that?" And he said, "It's easy." And she said, "Aren't you afraid of alligators?" And he said, "Noooo. If an alligator comes, I'll eat him!" She thought that was the bravest thing she'd ever heard.
But there are no alligators in the Savannah River. Someone's mom must have been closing down some possibilities for her children. Lesson: always question everything your parents say. More on this later. ;-)
Okay. So here's where I admit that it was not until I was 43 years old that I figured out how, when opening a bottle of agitated soda, to stop it from spraying all over the kitchen.
Having broken the seal on the bottle by twisting the lid, I would run—swearing, bottle in both hands, eye on the volatile neck of the bottle—to the sink, and let the soda overflow until it was done. Followed by more swearing and clean up.
This was my preferred method for decades.
On one such occasion, during my 43rd year, it occurred to me that if I just twisted the cap back in the opposite direction, I would close the bottle, and prevent the soda volcano from erupting.
This was a revelation of which I am not that proud. Where the hell had my brain been? Where the hell had I been? Why was it that this simple solution had not occurred to me—oh, I don't know—20 years ago?
I wondered why no one else, watching me open these bottles, had suggested closing the lid. I wondered where I had learned that running to the sink in a panic was the right answer to the problem.
But most of all, I wondered how many other simple and elegant solutions were right under my nose, and I wasn't seeing them.
In thinking back on what might have triggered this revelation, it occurred to me that it was around this time that I heard about the Mentos and Diet Coke experiments. Some kids had discovered that dropping Mentos candies into a liter bottle of Diet Coke would create a veritable Diet Coke fountain. They filmed themselves doing it and put it up on YouTube. Very shortly after, there were something like 1200 videos of other kids pouring Mentos in Diet Coke. It was an interesting media event, and since I was in media, I studied it. At an executive strategy meeting, we actually tried it ourselves. (It worked!)
In retrospect, I realize that at the time, I was focused on soda spewing from bottles. My awareness about soda spewing from bottles expanded, as it were. I not only observed, but intensely observed. And then one day, while I was holding a bottle that was about to explode, I became aware of the bottle, and twisted the cap back shut. End of soda disaster.
Previously, my mind was running a routine. Who knows how long I would have continued to run that routine if my awareness had not been expanded.
So now I know that if there's something in my life or business that's not happening optimally, I'll focus on it. I'll find other examples like it, and focus on them.
But more importantly, I intend to continue to practice being fully present instead of in my head. Thinking is great, but it's not everything. Experience is the ultimate teacher. We have to be here now to learn the lessons.