The Fire

Several years ago when I lived in Florida, there was a fire in my yard. It was started by a hawk. Well, a hawk did not intentionally start it. It did not have any means of building a flame, but it met its demise by being electrocuted as it quietly sat atop an electrical pole. As it fell to the ground on fire, the brush rapidly caught fire, too.

I was not home when it all began. I received a telephone call from my husband which started with “Keep calm, but the property is on fire.” Next was, “There are several firetrucks at the property trying to extinguish it before it reaches the house.”

The trucks brought water in their big water tanks and sprayed the property with fire hoses as efficiently as they could. They stopped the fire before it engulfed the house. The brush was burnt, black and smoldering, but all else was saved. When looking for the cause of the fire, the firemen found the scorched hawk at the bottom of the pole.

The Mindset

There is not much worse than facing an uncertainty like this. To be told something is about to happen that is completely out of your control shakes up even the most confident person. In the car drive to the house, I began to worry and feel fearful. Could I lose everything? Would I lose everything? I warned myself that this was not the time for worry and fear to control me. This voice was my martial art mindset kicking in.

In martial arts, if I let worry engulf me, I would never earn a black belt. If I let my own insecurities stand in my way, I would never try new things. I would not believe in myself. I would not be able to keep personal disasters, like this, in perspective.

There are times when you may experience difficult situations without your consent. One illness, disruption, or disappointment burns everything in your life to the ground and you have to start over. I’ve faced my share of personal fires. Because of martial arts, I had the perseverance to pick up the pieces and start over. The commitment and trust that I placed in what I learned paid off in these life-altering, burned-to-a-crisp situations.

I learned that you can take martial art concepts, theories, and attitudes wherever you go. If I am in a physical altercation, I can use what I know to defend or fight back. I can do the same in a mental altercation. I used what I knew about controlling reactions and facing fears head on as I pulled up to my yard which was surrounded by flames. Everything we owned, and all of our things that were inside the house could be destroyed forever (Check out The Martial Arts Woman merch here: https://amzn.to/3Ny9r98).

The Revelation

How does a martial artist think differently in this type of situation? I can only speak for myself. In that split second of time in my life I suddenly understood that positive life experiences and love far outweigh “things,” even houses. My martial art mindset allowed me to keep focused on what was important. Deep down, I knew the fire would be controlled and extinguished because I had faith that it would. Maybe positivity means nothing to a fire, but it means everything to me.

As we waited, the flames eventually dissolved into smoldering smoke. Everything was saved, except the hawk, whose untimely perch upon an electric pole ended his life. I realize the blessing in all of this. With my family safe and the house intact, I was free from something much bigger than a fire.

Disappointments, disasters, and trauma no longer take center stage in my life. Nothing can ever remove the overcomer mindset that I so carefully cultivated for so many years. Now, whenever “fires” occur in my life, I remain as calm and centered as I did on that day when the fire roared then settled to ash. You cannot just give up when you are pushed beyond your control. One way or another, good or bad, you have to pick up the pieces and keep going.

The Lesson

If anyone would have told me that one day a brush fire would be started in my yard by a hawk who got electrocuted atop my power pole, I would have laughed. I would never believe a crazy story like that.

The lesson I learned from this experience is twofold. First, I’m thankful for what I have, always. Secondly, I learned to battle and win against one of the most difficult opponents of all…uncertainty.

xoxo

Andrea

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