{"id":27468,"date":"2014-09-11T21:52:22","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T05:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=27468"},"modified":"2014-09-15T21:03:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T05:03:46","slug":"kissing-alligator-can-save-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/kissing-alligator-can-save-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kissing an Alligator Can Save Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Three years ago, I became a certified alligator wrestler.\u00a0 Why? Because I thought it would be a conversation starter on my resume.\u00a0 My friends and family were incredulous: \u00a0\u201cAre you insane?\u201d they asked.\u00a0 Talk to Albert, I replied.<\/p>\n

Albert Einstein, perhaps the greatest intellect the world ever has known, advised, \u201cThe only insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.\u201d\u00a0 So, whatever alligator you\u2019re wrestling with \u2013 getting good grades, getting a good job, making a public speech, making a key putt on the golf course, or making out with that cute guy or girl in chemistry class \u2013 the following steps along Frost\u2019s less-traveled path will make all the difference in your life. Not surprisingly, the journey starts with change.<\/p>\n

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone<\/b><\/p>\n

It is comfortable not to walk into a pond full of alligators, or not to try anything that is perceived to be risky. So, why is it so easy to drive a car, statistically way more dangerous than grabbing an alligator\u2019s tail?\u00a0 Because when one gets into a car, the focus is on getting from Point A to Point B; conversely, the focus shifts onto a negative outcome when thinking about wrestling with alligators. \u201cYou must do the things you think you cannot do,\u201d counseled Eleanor Roosevelt\u2026or forever be locked down in the prison of Can\u2019t\/Won\u2019t (if you think you can\u2019t do something, you won\u2019t do it).<\/p>\n

Train Your Focus<\/b><\/p>\n

Once you decide to get out of your comfort zone, the only way to take that first step into the alligator pond is by focusing on a positive outcome.\u00a0 Think only about what you want to happen, not about what might go wrong.\u00a0 When you\u2019re thinking about what you want to happen, your focus is on success, and you will \u201cprogram\u201d yourself for a favorable outcome \u2013 and success will be yours.\u00a0 If you think about what might go wrong, you are focused on fear and doubt, and programming yourself to fail \u2013 and you will.<\/p>\n

Stay Focused<\/b><\/p>\n

The key to wrestling alligators is grabbing on to their tails and not letting go.\u00a0 They will try to pivot around and bite you, but they cannot pivot all the way around, and their muscles (except for their jaws) are not very strong; so, if you hold on, and move in the opposite direction of their pivot, there\u2019s no way they can get bite you. Eventually, they will get tired and give up, and you can pull them out of the pond, shove their tails between your legs, jump onto their backs and pull their necks back \u2013 and you will have won the match.<\/p>\n

Whatever alligator you\u2019re wrestling with, do not let go of the tail, no matter what.\u00a0 In other words, stay focused on your positive outcome and do not get distracted by whatever might bite you in the process.<\/p>\n

The Alligator is Your Friend<\/b><\/p>\n

Edmund Burke wrote, \u201cHe that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.\u201d\u00a0 After wrestling seven alligators and walking out of that pond with all my fingers and toes intact, I had an immediate feeling of invincibility – I was happy, relaxed, and supremely confident.\u00a0 And I tucked that invincibility card away for the next time I waded into a pit of alligators, literal or figurative.\u00a0 That\u2019s a card you\u2019ll always have and be able to play \u2013 and it will trump all negativity you might encounter on the way to getting what you want or getting to where you want to be.\u00a0 Success does breed success \u2013 indeed, each successful outcome is a stepping stone to greater and greater heights.<\/p>\n

The Top of the Mountain<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking of heights, your friend, the alligator, will help you to the top of the mountain.\u00a0 By the time you get to the top, you will have proven to yourself that you can do anything and that everything is possible. Oddly enough, this is when you will be most vulnerable \u2013 because you have been taught that human beings cannot fly and, most likely, you have chosen, uncritically, to believe it.\u00a0 Thus, you will be tempted to think that you can go no further, that the next step has to be down.\u00a0 Is it as insane to think that your next step must be up as it is to walk into a pond full of alligators?\u00a0 It sure is, unless you change something.\u00a0 If you choose to change your mind and change your focus?\u00a0 That\u2019s when you\u2019ll learn to fly!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Gator<\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, I kissed my friend, the alligator \u2013 no tongue, though.<\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/p>\n

Tom Cladis, alias: The Midnight Rider, is a Christian, a writer, provocateur, free-thinker, thrill-seeker, adventurer, warrior, and certified alligator wrestler, who keeps his sail set for the far horizon and thrills to the splash of seawater across the bow. Additionally, Tom is an ordained minister, who has officiated at 40 weddings in the last 15 years. He challenges everyone he meets to open their minds, dangling as a carrot freedom from all self-imposed limits. He likes to jump \u2013 off of cliffs, out of hot air balloons and airplanes, and off the edge of all that is known into the Unknown, where he is sure that one of two things will happen: either he will find something solid on which to stand, or he will be taught to fly. In his day-to-day life, Tom is a Vice President of Institutional Services at Gill Capital, and he publishes a daily newsletter called, \u201cThe Midnight\/Morning Rider.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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