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Click below to watch the short VIDEO promo…It’s the backstory of the “Dog in the Gap” book…Plus, meet Doug, Spurgeon, Lisa, and Luna.
“Dog in the Gap“ VIDEO
If you like it, will you pass it on?
Here’s the adventure this summer: GEOCACHING! There are more life lessons in this activity than you can shake a stick at…if you shake sticks.
You can literally find treasure TODAY.
1. Just get an App for your smart phone FREE, and
2. start finding treasure using standard GPS technology.
There are (likely) dozens of treasures hidden within 5 miles of your home. It’s the best family fun we’ve had in a while. Plus, when we go camping, we look up where the treasures are close by. My two tips: Wear comfortable shoes and bring a towel. All of all got wet looking for treasure.
Here’s a quick tutorial video:
Or, maybe you’d like to hide a treasure? HIGHLY FUN! Watch a short video and learn how here.
This summer I’m also creating a limited run of Trackable Gemstones that will be discovered by treasure hunters all over, and I’m hoping they quickly move to different geocache spots around the globe. Want one?
FIND OUT ABOUT THAT HERE.
So, first you have to decide if you’re busy or numb.
The last post talked about that. It’s the necessary reading for this post. (Plus, there’s a hilarious Judo Chop knockout 26 second video you should see.)
Maybe you’re some of both. Read on!
Judo Chopping your inner Zombie = Judo Chopping FEAR
If you’re stuck and assuming some Zombie qualities here are 3 Ways to deal a Judo Chop blow to what’s holding you back! (btw this is the best and funniest example of how an actual Judo Chop works to knock someone out cold. It surprised me!)
1. Move from self-soothing to solutions
Example:
You want another job but as you troll around to find one at a big employment website…you find it’s complicated and tedious. All those stupid forms to fill out again and again! CURSES! You get bogged down. In a bit, you get distracted or you burnout in frustration. Time to check FACEBOOK, Intagram, or Pintrest. . . buzz—-you’re a zombie! (Can’t relate? Just think of anything else that takes a while and how you tend to get bogged down.)
Solution: Change the whole dynamic. Jump to the end.
Use a computer at a library that has a time limit. (Time limits are the death of passivity.) Make a few phone calls that close the gap between you and someone else, and see what’s available with the contacts you already have in real life. Jumping to the end usually involves direct connects. Don’t avoid it.
Find a way to jump over the lag and drag. Reach out for help. For real. JUDO CHOP the Zombie!
2. Look Harder.
Example:
You’re bouncing around on Facebook or otherwise dawdling. You feel frustrated, stuck, or disconnected and ineffectual. You see a neighbor in their yard and think something mean or critical about them. BUZZ–Zombie alert! (It’s you!)
Solution: Look harder at what’s bothering you.
When we start turning on people we are going numb, because we’re trying to anesthetize our own pain by throwing it outward. Start noticing the red flags. You’re numbing out, my friend. Get real about your pain. Take a few (literal) notes. (we’ve all heard the phrase that ‘s turned into a cliché, “Admitting it is the first step.” This is your big chance. But lots of chances will surface. Assess what you are really feeling.)
After that, refer to Step 1. Judo Chop the Zombie!
3. Put in a Gate
Example:
You’re at a stop sign and you’re thinking, “Can I make a text from here, or will it take too long?”
or Someone asks you to help on a project and you’d rather sleep, avoid them (in the first place), or find an exit.
Solution: Get your GATE on
The truth is we need boundaries. Using electric fences with barbed wire as some of us are prone to do only disconnects us and keeps us numb.
“Good fences make good neighbors” goes the adage. That doesn’t mean, build a fence to keep everyone out. It means you have neighbors and you need neighbors (some people call this community), but defined boundaries make it better for everyone.
If you have a white picket fence instead of one a federal penitentiary uses, people can see you and you can see them. Busting through in an emergent is possible or you can jump it to reach out. Picket style fences mark off where your sanctuary is and the gate you “install” determines the entry point.
It’s a balance: Don’t use high iron bars like a jailbird, but don’t expect that a boarder row of pansies will get the point across either. If you’re inundated you need a better fence, but to JUDO CHOP your inner Zombie always include a gate.
Boundaries Explained
We need to allocate time for ourselves and what’s really important. This turns out to be people and not things. Things keep us numb. People give us the connection and belonging we are craving. But it’s painful and tricky stuff to be sure. Don’t feel guilt about making boundaries: Our fences need gateways to get let certain things in at certain times.
Want a SECRET WEAPON?
Don’t JUDO CHOP your inner Zombie alone. Grab another Zombie and go for it. Jump the pen of isolation. (more on that in the next post!)
Ending numbness happens in groups. Yes, so do Zombie attacks, but in the end of a Zombie attack there are less brains to go around. So, partner, ally forces, pick someone and make efforts to be a better friend.
Don’t miss that next post! (add this blog to your RSS feed, your bookmark list, or sign up to get instant access when a post goes live. Click in the sidebar to get started.)
As a kid I would see adults numb out. (I didn’t know it was that at the time.) They’d get obsessed with hobbies, drink too much, channel surf late into the night, veg-out with a bag of potato chips, flitter about with shopping, or keep their nose in a book. Smart phones hadn’t been invented but going numb abounded!
I sensed I wasn’t like them because I was always moving on to the next adventure. I was sort of powerless as a kid, but I wasn’t stuck. It wasn’t just their actions, it was their faces gave away that something had shut off.
I get it now.
I get that we grow to numb out because it’s a way to reduce anxiety. Anxiety doesn’t lessen with age. In fact, more disappointments have piled up and more is at stake after a few decades of life. Disappointment, pain, fear, and frustration all drive us to numb out. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t do it in some variety.
I have to fight off a tendency to go numb and zombie out, too. Life is painful, I get it. But, I’ve realized it’s worth the fight. (It’s an actual life or death struggle.)
Blasting numbness takes skills.
1. You just can’t “get to it”
Whether it’s that you’re -super busy-, or that you feel the conditions are never quite right to get started, there is a special sort of “stuckness” that signals Numb territory. You meant to. You want to. You should. But, there’s lag and drag.
2. You’re distracted by design
You try to stay busy or occupied (whether you realize it or not). Maybe you check your emails a lot, or play apps or video games, surf the net for reading material or naked people, or scrapbook like mad. Maybe you text a lot, or you have to “get your run on” (frantic exercise), maybe you troll blogs, or do Facebook on your Smart Phone when you find a gap in your day. You want a break! It makes sense.
Or maybe, it’s more subtle. Maybe the kids have crazy schedules of activities you must attend to. Whatever it is, you have to admit that you’re trying to appease to your restlessness. You’re trying to stay moving but really you’re going nowhere. In the end, you only want more “soothing” or movement because you’re still in the same place.
3. You’re less connected
Have you really opened up to a friend lately, face-to-face? Can people get close to you or really know you? Have you avoided getting close to other people because they seem like a pain in the butt? This is because there is something painful about it. You want to avoid that stuff and you want to stay numbed out. People are a great source of anxiety for all kinds of reasons, but disconnection means you’ll stay numb. It’s time to be fearless.
What’s really so bad about going numb or staying numb?
Tons, but I’ll limit it to 3.
• You. Stay. Stuck. (Hardly anything is more frustrating. It’s like a jail. But, you made this jail. It’s time to get out.)
• You stop growing as a person. (Remember the cranky neighbor or the jerk boss? That is or will be you! Don’t be that guy. Remember, the mean librarian or pissed off gym teacher. Don’t let it come to that.)
• Deadness. Zombies look cool in the movies, but…hello…they. are. dead. (and they eat the brains of living people. gross. Wow. How true is that, anyway?)
If you are numb, you are deadened. You can’t feel the good stuff either, like love, acceptance, belonging, and joy. (This stinks because it’s hardly living when you’re numb to the good stuff!) You can’t fine tune numbness. It’s a categorical deadening.
I can’t stress this enough: Don’t be a Zombie.
In the next post, I’ll share best practices for judo chopping numbness in the neck…and getting on with your best life. (Click the content link in the right sidebar to get that post zipped right to you.)
Now you’ll like this! Check out what a good judo chop can do.
Today, I’m exposing you to a man, now over 80 years old.
Eugene Peterson took a lifetime to become like Jesus, and now, more than ever, his wisdom is worth listening to.
Also note that as Christians, we are all–in some important way–pastors of others.
Enjoy this!
