An Energy Blast from the Past
by Sulana Stone
Remember when life was a spine-tingling adventure? You were excited to be alive. And nothing could stop you. Now, when life may not be all that you expected it to be and you need a boost in your caboose, you can use those precious moments from your past to shift yourself from breakdown to breakthrough.
When your zip is zapped, tap the past!
Anytime you get ambushed by challenges, waylaid by the moody blues or side-tracked by countless distractions, you can get back on course by activating long-forgotten abilities that lift your spirit.
We are all capable of choosing how we feel. We surely don’t have wait for the joy, clarity, courage and inspiration to roll around in their own sweet time. Anytime we want to, we can activate these qualities. Our past provides a menu of life-enhancing selections that we can choose from to help us feel better—any time, anywhere.
The most powerful moments of your past can propel you forward today. These inner nuggets of alchemical power will transform you now. How? By re-experiencing and using the abilities you used in the past to create a happier life.
North to Alaska
One of the favorite peak experiences I tap to raise my spirit when I feel down occurred when I fulfilled my childhood dream of living in Alaska. Those magical moments in the tundra provide a treasure-trove of qualities that I use now to activate my life when I run low on enthusiasm.
Call of the wild
My childhood dream was to go to Alaska. And I kept the fire burning throughout my childhood and teen years until—at 19 years old—my dream unfolded.
In elementary school, my favorite book was “Call of the Wild” by Jack London. Stories of countless snow-covered peaks sent thrills, not chills, through my spine. I thrived on any show about Alaska. After seeing the movie, “North to Alaska,” I gleefully drove my parents crazy singing the lyrics to the title song: “Where the river is winding, big nuggets they’re finding. North to Alaska, I’m goin’ north, the rush is on!” In my early teens, I got an Alaskan Malamute dog that I named after the star of the family film, “Nikki, Wild Dog of the North.”
At 14 I wrangled a summer job at a lodge in the mountains outside of Aspen, Colorado. My task was giving tours of the 100 husky sled dogs that boasted exotic names like Klondike, Toklat, Moose Jaw and Kilpoot. These robust huskies were often used as sled dogs in movies. In the winter these web-footed snow hounds delighted in pulling tourist-filled sleds. In the summer, the grass-bound pooches went on walks and howled for the tourists. Just imagine 100 howling wolves and you get the picture!
Exploring a new frontier
Finally at 19, I was winging my way to Anchorage. I didn’t know a soul in the “wilderness.” For two months I’d be in a strange new land before my husband would arrive from basic training in “the lower 48” to join his military unit at Ft. Richardson. To me Alaska represented a place of adventure, unparalleled beauty, wide-open space, opportunity and … freedom!
My life-long dream became reality when I arrived at the Anchorage airport. The beasts and fowl of the arctic—moose, reindeer, caribou, fox, ptarmigan, bald eagle, penguin, seal and walrus—welcomed me from their glass displays as I sauntered through the airport. Dwarfed by the enormity of the polar and grizzly bears reaching for the sky, my every cell tingled with excitement. I was filled with awe.
Infused with a sense of adventure, this unstoppable pioneer was questing for a new life in “uncivilized territory.” My initial task: find transportation and a homestead. In other words, I had to rent a car and find a place to live immediately.
I “fought” the law … and I won!
The car rental agencies at the Anchorage airport presented my first challenge. The Alaska law said I was too young to rent a car—I had to be 21. Coming from a state where it was legal to drive at 18, I was undaunted. No “arbitrary” decree was going to thwart my mission. After all, I was in The Zone and living my dream! Unshaken, I asked every rental agent in the airport until I came to a small local company. The agent said that he would rent me a car if I signed a waiver of insurance. “Sure!” I agreed eagerly, “I’ll sign anything.” That’s when the rental agent, i.e., company owner, revealed that he and his wife also had a room for rent in the basement of their home. Voila! In one fail swoop I had a car and a place to live. I was in paradise!
Living with the innocence of a child
From the moment I touched ground until I left the wilds of Alaska, life was thrilling. I was full of excitement for living. What was I going to discover next? I was elated by my first “whiteout.” Where the cloud-covered white sky met the snow-covered ground was anybody’s guess—no telling where the road was or what direction I should go. Wow! At 10 degrees when the car broke down in the middle of nowhere, I wondered how I was going to get out of this mess. No worry. No fear. Just curiosity, “What’s going to happen now?” (The folks who happened by in the next car fixed the problem and I was off again.)
The power of the past
My past offers up golden nuggets of inner qualities I can use now to open to fresh exciting possibilities. Any time, anywhere I can tap into curiosity … innocence …openness …acceptance …flow. I was overflowing with the abilities of clarity, wonder, magic, courage, playfulness … and the joy of being alive. Sure there were some bumps in the road. And eventually I got over them all. Even the bumps were exciting!
So, now, 40 years later, when I notice the thrill is gone, when I notice that I’m not enjoying the bumps in the road, I get an energy blast from the past. I re-experience how I felt in Alaska. I open to the excitement and wonder that I once had. And I feel the excitement and wonder now! Then I’m off again. Who would have known that I’d use the chilly arctic to warm my soul many decades later?
What are the best times and qualities of your life that you can use to blast off into more happiness?