OLeary - On fire : the 7 choices to ignite a radically inspired life

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Copyright 2016 by John OLeary

All photos are courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted

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First North Star Way hardcover edition March 2016

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Interior design by Jaime Putorti

Jacket design by Jason Heuer

Author photograph by Franz Krachtus

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

OLeary, Johnauthor.

On fire : the 7 choices to ignite a radically inspired life / John OLeary.

pages cm

1. Conduct of life. 2. Self-realization. I. Title.

BJ1589.O44 2016

158.1dc23

2015027012

ISBN 978-1-5011-1772-5

ISBN 978-1-5011-1774-9 (ebook)

To my wife, Beth.

The night we met, you had the courage to take my hand and dance. Weve danced together through friendship, dating, marriage, parenting, challenges, joys, and life ever since. Thank you for being a constant encouragement, a wonderful mother, an awesome wife, and my best friend.

I love you.

Life is not about avoiding death; its about choosing to really live.

Stop pretending and begin to see the miracle of your life.

Extinguish indifference, ignite potential, and discover the power of a purposeful life.

Change the way you ask a question to transform the answers you getand the life you lead.

Comfort is popular, but courage changes lives.

One life can, and always does, change the world.

Fear and love are the two great motivators. While fear suffocates, love liberates.

Dont confuse being out of bed with being fully awake.

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.

Marshal Ferdinand Foch

Y es.

It was a simple answer.

And it wasnt the one he was expecting.

I was standing in the front of a crowded auditorium in Shanghai and had just finished sharing the defining story of my life. For the previous hour during my keynote speech Id described the day I was terribly burned as a child, the months I spent in the hospital, and the vast challenges I faced afterward.

It was a devastating, transformative, and tragic experience.

So this man asked a question with a seemingly obvious answer:

John, if you could go back in time, go back to that Saturday morning, go back to that moment when you picked up the gasoline and got burned, would you do it all again?

I looked at him, thought about it for a moment, and answered honestly.

Yes!

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Would you really choose to almost die? Would you choose to be burned on 100 percent of your body? Would you actually opt in to the desperate fight for life, or spending five months in the hospital, or being barely functioning for another eight months after that? And would you seriously choose to walk through life with scars covering your body, fingers amputated, and whispered glances and pointed fingers every day of your life?

Yes!

And Ill tell you why.

The fire was devastating, almost killed me, and certainly sparked a lifetime of challenges.

But it also molded me into who I am today.

So while it is true that if Id not been burned, Id remove all the difficulties caused by the fire. It is also true that Id destroy all the gifts galvanized because of it.

You see, everything beautiful and enriching in my life today was born through the tragedy of those flames. Through the painful ashes of recovery as a child, I grew in character, audacity, compassion, faithfulness, and drive. It led to a clear perspective on what actually matters and a bold vision for whats possible. Because of the fire, I dont take things for granted, am grateful for each day, and am certain that the best is yet to come.

The fire matured my grade-school community. It transformed little kids into compassionate, helpful classmates willing to serve their fellow student who now had some special needs. It later guided the decisions on where I went to high school and to university, which led to a fortuitous meeting with a beautiful lady named Beth, which led to four little kids.

Today I live an awesome life; a radically inspired life.

A radically inspired life means you embrace the lessons from your past, actively engage in the miracle of each moment, and ignite the limitless possibility of tomorrow. Now, it certainly doesnt mean a painless existence of error-free living. Far from it. But a radically inspired life means you possess the ability to learn from past mistakes, rise above personal challenges, and thrive in life, no matter your circumstances.

I wouldnt be living a radically inspired life had I not been burned in that fire.

Do I have scars?

You bet. They cover my entire body.

Did I lose my fingers?

Yes.

Was it devastating for my family?

Undoubtedly.

But we overcame.

It no longer negatively defines us.

In fact, were significantly better because of it.

And were not alone.

We all face fires in life, we all get burned.

We all endure moments when everything in life seems to be progressing exactly as planned: our kids are healthy, business is thriving, and dreams are unfolding, and then boom! An explosion.

Life completely changes.

Maybe your moment was an unwanted diagnosis.

A sick child.

A sudden death.

A business deal gone bad.

Regardless of the cause, your entire life was rocked.

I call these moments inflection points . This is a pinpointed moment in time that changes everything that follows. In an instant, the trajectories of life, business, and relationships are altered.

There are positive scenarios, too.

The moment a new relationship buds, the offer of an incredible opportunity at work, or coming to a new understanding or perspective in life.

More important than the inflection point itself is how you choose to react to it. Whether that moment ends up impacting your life positively or negatively is, ultimately, a choice.

Its your choice.

These choices add up to the life you are living today.

And these choices determine the life youll lead tomorrow.

I write this book to wake you up to the reality that you have one life to live, one opportunity to impact, and one legacy to author. Whether your life story is an epic to celebrate or a tragedy to mourn has little to do with the events within your life and everything to do with the manner in which you respond to those events. From now on, no more sleepwalking; no more accidental living.

This book will remind you that you cant always choose the path that you walk in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk it.

It will inspire you to harness the power of your daily choices, the worthiness of your personal story, and the strength of your inner purpose.

It will free you to respond Yes to past adversity, Yes to future possibility, and Yes to waking up to the miraculous gift of each moment.