Bottled Lightning: Skin Your Knees On Eternity

At the beginning of my presentations on “How to Live a Life of Adventure” at high schools, colleges, civic clubs and church groups, my first words exclaim, “I live a spectacular life!”

(Sometimes, you must express that “bottled lightning” with a kiss, a sport, a dance, a job, a moment, or anything in your day to live a spectacular life.) Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

After the audience digests such brash words, I invite each person to repeat for himself or herself, “I live a spectacular life!”

They repeat the words, but with unease, consternation and even trepidation. It’s a bit difficult to make a bold statement on how you live your life should you be living a dull life, average existence and even, a difficult life. You may face challenges that seem to consume, daunt and defeat you.

So, how do you bottle your internal lightning energy? How do you go out into life to skin your knees in the face of eternity?

First, your 80 years on this planet constitute your personal eternity. That means you choose what happens, how it happens and for how long. You choose to learn as much as you can during your schooling. You choose to care for your body-temple by your actions or inactions. You choose to eat, drink and nourish your being with healthy foods and fellowship of friends. You choose to fill your spirit with your own options of connection to the natural world.

Second, harness your youthful exuberance not only in your teen years, but choose to maintain your energies throughout your entire life. It’s been said, “Life deals you high and low cards, but you play with the hand you’re dealt. You can bluff your way through or you can play it straight. Either way, you win or lose on your chosen merits, talents, skills, education and actions.

Third, choose your words and thoughts wisely. Choose your friends with care. Hang with others that carry their own “bottled lightning.” For starters, what defines bottled lightning?

Think of the energy that explodes through your body when you work on a project that you love. It may be working on your car, creating a bookshelf in a woodcraft class, writing a poem or volunteering at a homeless shelter. It might encompass a math class, sports of all kinds, dancing or yoga. It may be a novel or a Shakespearean play.

Include its concepts into your inner passions, drive and creative living. You may choose that “bottled lightning” drive throughout your life. Once you feel it, you know it. Once you know it, you own it. From that point onward, apply it to your work, play and quiet times.

For example: this past spring, I carried my passion for long distance bicycle travel along the West Coast of America. I pedaled nearly 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico. Each day, I pedaled up hills and coasted down hills. I traveled through sunshine and rainstorms. I pushed into headwinds and enjoyed tailwinds. I witnessed stunning sunrises and sunsets. I met fantastic people and several “otherwise” people. Each day, I expected great moments.

At one point on the Big Sur south of San Francisco, known for its incredibly rugged mountainous cliffs that tower over the crashing surf—I stopped at a vista point overlooking a lagoon 150 feet below me. Another traveler yelled out, “They’re spouting!” I looked down to see a 30-ton Grey whale surface for air. For an added treat, a calf spouted right alongside its mother. I snapped several pictures as they played between the seaweed and waves rolling in from the wide Pacific Ocean.

I muttered to myself, “Spectacular!” Indeed, at that moment, I lived a spectacular life because I took a chance. I pedaled my bike down the West Coast. I opened myself up to the energies of the universe. Do you think it’s easy to pedal a bike across a continent? Is it a cakewalk to ride in a rainstorm? Answer: a cyclist faces every kind of challenge you can imagine, just like your own life with your challenges.

In the same high vibrational frequencies, you enjoy the same possibilities in your spectacular life. It might be travel or raising a child. It might be your Zumba Dance Class or playing the piano. Discover your “bottled lightning” in your pursuit of happiness.

Now, repeat after me with certitude, enthusiasm and genuine confidence, “I live a spectacular life!”

##