It was a simple thing really. All I had done was to make a simple course correction in a pattern that I’d repeated time and time again. But it felt for the first time that I had actually utilized the power of my will by simply making a choice for no other reason than the fact that I wanted to make it.
It occurred to me how simple it could be to alter the course of our business practices by simply willing to make the small course corrections in our daily practices. I felt that if our will as a society were strong enough, there was nothing that we wouldn’t be able to accomplish.
“You know, not all of the choices will be that simple,” Iman said. I turned to see that he was now sitting in the passenger’s seat.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Hop from place to place like that?”
“The same way that you just turned that corner,” he said with a shrug. “I just chose to be where I wanted to be.”
“You just said it wasn’t that simple.”
“It’s not always that simple. It takes a certain level of alignment.”
“How do you mean?” I asked.
“What are the four aspects of a market that you were discussing before?”
“The producer, the product, the service, and the customer.”
“Right. If one of those is out of alignment with the others, the market crashes. Just like with a human system.”
“What do you mean like a human system?”
“The human system is comprised of four parts as well. It needs the same type of alignment.”
“You mean like two hands and two feet?”
“Not exactly. What were the four basics that David gave you?”
“Let’s see, the first was commitment to a task.”
“That’s your mind. As a man thinks, so is he. What’s the next one?”
“Um, having ambition?”
“That’s the spirit compelling you to be more than you are, your intuition guiding you to the next stage of your being. The next?”
“Doing the work necessary to achieve your goals.”
“Without your body, your mind and spirit won’t get much accomplished, will they? Your five senses help you realize all of the resources you have to reach your goals.”
“And the fourth?”
“Following through and consistent excellence.”
“And there’s your heart. By feeling your way through the journey of reaching your goal, you’ll realize the lives you’re affecting and realize what the journey’s really about.” Iman said with a nod. “If those four things aren’t in alignment, your system breaks down.”
I thought for a moment about the corner I’d just turned. How I had thought about it, aspired to it, acted upon it and followed through.
“Those same four elements,” he continued, “comprise every system you humans have created and most of the ones you understand. Even your ideas of nature are comprised of air, fire, earth, and water. If they don’t work together, your planet breaks down.”
“How do we keep them in alignment?” I asked.
“It takes work.”
Suddenly, the car lurched and a loud bang erupted from under the car. The steering wheel pulled to the right and I pulled against it with all my might as I stomped on the brakes. The tires squealed as the car slid sideways down the road.
I slid to a stop, my heart racing. I looked around me, relieved that there was no other traffic.
“I think I blew a tire,” I said, looking at Iman.
“Good thing you’ve got a spare,” he said with a smile.
This is an excerpt from How to Survive an Estralarian Mind Meld. Come back weekly for the next part or order your copy in ebook or paperback today!
