I do mix with some very fascinating people. One of them, Sam Dyer, is an expert in a set of techniques that promise much to enhance our mental health. WHAT it is (NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming) is not as important to me as WHO Sam is.

I know Sam. I like Sam. I trust Sam.

Sam has recently undergone the training required to run fire-walking sessions, as well as walking across broken glass, bending steel bars, breaking boards, and shattering the shaft of an arrow with one's bare throat! So what? Good point!

Because I know, like, and trust Sam, I agreed to have a go at breaking an arrow with my bare and unprotected throat. Yes folks, this is one you really don't do at home!

I thought it was likely to be a bit of a con. Perhaps the shaft was weak, the arrow-point blunt, the exercise 'fixed' in some way. I was wrong. The arrow was real. There was no trick. I felt the point. It left a temporary mark to remind me it was real. There wasn't an audience either, so it wasn't a Show.

Justin my friend, and I drew closer to Sam to find out more about the purpose of breaking arrows. Sam explained we all face 'impossible' situations in our lives from time to time. Some of these situations benefit from a shift in the way we perceive them. They respond to pushing in to a breakthrough. That shift can be a choice, or it can come from good direction from someone who knows a little more about what is realistic and what can be achieved with the right help and guidance.

Justin and I were encouraged to write on the shaft of the arrow a problem that we wanted to overcome. Then Sam modelled how to break the arrow with just your throat pushing the arrow against a wall. Yes, it's as reckless as it sounds.

My problems are real. The arrow is real. The point was sharp. My neck was soft. I felt the point. But I broke the arrow.

Whilst I am most certainly suggesting that the only circumstances you should try this for yourself is under the guidance of a trained expert, you can still get the point! Sam got me to write out the problem and then to focus on that problem as I watched it shatter, break, and dissipate before my very eyes (which were wearing protective goggles!)

Not everything can change for you, but some things can. There are some barriers out there that you'll never break through – we need to pick our barriers and battles carefully BUT I did breakthrough with an 'impossible' exercise. It got me thinking about what battle to pick next and where to push through to victory.

May we all have the wisdom to realise what we can't change, the insight to recognise what we can change, and the courage to have a bash at breaking through one barrier at a time.

It's not all impossible, it just looks and feels like it. May you find a Sam to inspire you too.

Lex

A Moodscope member.