my first firewalk
I love learning. Over the years, I’ve found some pretty interesting ways to further my education. In 1992, I’d heard about a leadership program that culminated with an optional firewalk. I’d heard about firewalking years before, but never really considered it. But it was optional, right? So I signed up for the program, prepared to watch from the sidelines.
For 10 days, I stretched. And I don’t mean my muscles – I’m referring to my mind. I was presented with opportunities to move beyond self-imposed boundaries. Most, I took. After a week and a half, the final day of the program arrived, and with it the firewalk. I still had no intention to walk. Curiously, my cool disinterest had turned to red-hot fear. I calmed myself, remembering that I was there just to watch. Just watching someone walk would be all I needed to expand my belief in what was humanly possible.
Time passed and soon the fire was ready. Our instructor asked everyone – whether we intended to walk or not – to remove our shoes. I felt a pit, in the pit of the deepest pit of my stomach. A wave of nausea washed over me. I thought I was going to faint. What do you mean, take off my shoes anyway? No one was going to force or coerce me to walk, I knew that, and yet I was possessed by fear – to the core.
Somewhere inside I knew that after that night, my life would never be the same. I took off my shoes, reassuring myself that I was only going to watch. That was all I needed. That would be enough.
Barefoot, I walked with my classmates to the pile of glowing embers. From 10 feet away, I could feel the heat. The fire tenders were sweating. Their faces were red. One big 
group – we were all together, but I’d never felt so alone in my life. Funny, how fear narrows your focus.
Suddenly, it was all about me.
Our instructor said a few words and before I knew what was happening, a woman strolled right up to the fire and walked across. She didn’t pause. She didn’t hesitate. She strode confidently and proudly and when she reached the end, she jumped up in the air and shouted for joy.
Just having witnessed this, I was a changed person. My mind had expanded. I had seen the impossible.
I continued to watch as one by one my classmates lined up, walking once, twice even three times over the orange coals. I watched and marveled and feared, reminding myself that it was enough for me just to watch.
And then, it wasn’t.
Years of sitting on the sidelines while others succeeded, while others experienced the fullness of life flashed through my memory. The moments rolled together and spoke in one voice. It was NOT okay any more.
The more I thought, the more I feared. The more I feared, the more painful it became to remain stuck. I wanted more than anything to cross that coal bed.
“Three minutes”, shouted the instructor, signaling the end of the firewalk. “One minute!” It’s now or never, I thought.
God, I said, Please! I am so tired of sitting on the sidelines. I would rather die than to live the rest of my life this way. I really want to do this, but I’m so afraid.
And then I did what many of us do when we’re afraid to take action. I put it on God.
God, I said, If you want me to do this, you’re going to have to carry me to the coals because I can’t move my feet.
You know what? I was about to learn that when you test God, he shows up. I immediately began to experience a feeling inside of me – one that I had never before nor since felt. I felt myself moving forward, toward the head of the fire.
I could have sworn my feet didn’t move. But there I was.
The moment of truth.
I was very clear. I would rather die than sit on the sidelines of life any longer. And so I put one stepped forward and walked. One foot before the other, I walked across that fire.
When I reached the end of the path, someone held my shoulders and said, “Turn around and see what you just did!” I turned. I saw. I was overjoyed.
You don’t go backward from something like this. You can only move forward, and that I did. The next year I was trained as a firewalk instructor. Today I lead others through this transformative experience. It’s both an honor and a privilege, and nothing brings me greater joy.
To schedule or attend firewalk, please contact Lee Cadena Media, 310-800-8337. Please email Judith directly at successmadesimple.jc@gmail.com
Yeah, Judith, you don’t forget an event like that. I did my fire walk back in the mid-eighties with Tony Robbins. It still resonates today!
Hi Jane,
Tony and I trained at the same place. (Although he figured out how to become a billionaire before I did.) I did a firewalk with him a few years ago. It was great!