Suddenly Aware!

It really lasted the whole game, because I was really untouchable, unstoppable that game. But it was heightened on one particular play, and that was the longest run where everything completely slowed down. My awareness was so keen, it was so heightened, it was really amazing. – Marcus Allen, National Football League hall of fame member.

There is no question that many athletes have at times achieved a heightened sense of awareness, in complete control of their physical and psychological beings, experiencing a laser focus that allowed them to make the tiniest of distinctions and excel at record breaking levels. So how do they get there? Why can’t we all achieve that sharp focus? Well the real answer is that we can and we do, but we simply have to engage more than we do. We have already awakened to the trap of becoming spellbound zombies and encouraged that action is the best teacher…the result of which is a greater sense of personal awareness. This week I had the great opportunity to spend some individual one on one time with my sales team members and I became very aware of many misconceptions that existed amongst what I was thinking about them and them me. I also became more aware than ever that my words can be more powerful than I had ever expected in both positive and negative ways. I realized that what I often thought was a harmless jab meant to encourage was often interpreted as a put down…the exact opposite effect!

This experience had me even more alertly on the lookout for the opportunity to use my new found awareness and words more judiciously, and as serendipity would dictate, life delivered my next chance sooner than later. Driving home in a taxi with some friends, I took the front seat with a chiseled faced, Russian driver with a giant, gap toothed smile named Alex! This guy could not have been type cast more perfectly for the consummate KGB officer…and of course I had to joke with him and asked him why the KGB had sent him to spy on me. But after a mutual chuckle, I jumped on the opportunity and returned to the conversation more aware and probed into his history…what an incredible journey he took me on from there. Not only had he grown up in Russian, but he was quite familiar with the KGB! His father had a dream that he and his family would move to the United States and applied for exit visas…only to be interrogated by an actual KGB official who declared that the whole family, other than his father could leave. Shortly after the decision, his father suffered a heart attack and died. Alex, his brother and mother, with their father’s ashes in tow headed out on their journey to live the dream! Alex concluded his story by telling me about his wife and sons who were now living his father’s dream. I was so aware of his appreciation for his father that I said I’m sure one of your boys is named after your father…to which he pointed to his youngest.

Why would I talk about this in a thinking tool about awareness! Because I was laser focused that there was much more to this man than a couple of jokes…there was inspiration and appreciation for that which we all take for granted! There was also the pain in his life that he was now more aware of his deep gratitude for his father some 20 years after his death…longing for the lost opportunity to tell his father how much he appreciated and loved him for what he had done to inspire them! You see life is filled with amazing opportunities, but we are in such a coma that we don’t even realize that they are right in front of us…our focus is usually sharpened through the stories of others. It’s still hard to believe we live in such fear that we can’t even fall into a conversation with each other. We get our ideas spoon fed to us through the media…TV, radio, the internet…and forget to ask questions and do our own research. We’re not aware of how life really is because we fail to engage. So during this year of an election in the United States, it’s a great time to become more aware. Don’t just vote because you like the way someone sounds or what party they are affiliated with….educate yourself! Become aware of the real issues by studying them. Become aware of how you feel and take the appropriate action…watch how much better you’ll feel. But more importantly become more aware of the people that are in your life from family to strangers and engage them now before they become a lost opportunity! So the next time you feel yourself going through the motions, it’s a good indication that it’s time to engage, learn and become awakened and aware!