successful medical procedures as if they were trained professionals. Men lead victims to safety through burning buildings, pitch-black forests and raging floods. Teenagers bend steel and rip open closed elevator doors to liberate loved ones. Scared people jump ten feet over a chasm to safety. Given a death sentence by doctors, people heal themselves spontaneously.
“Where do human beings get the power and knowledge to perform such implausible feats?” I wondered. I observed that when life offers a person a choice between their beliefs in what is possible and the necessity to save another from harm, people often scrap their perceived limitations and choose to do whatever needs to be done. Very often, people choose life, caring and rescue over the restrictions of their belief systems.
“If we can break out of our belief box when life has us up against the wall, why can’t we release our limiting beliefs at will when we are not in a crisis?” I inquired within myself.
I looked around in my world for examples of people who know how to free themselves from tribal collective limitations—mainstream cultural beliefs—in order to access fresh possibilities of human potential. I discovered my models through reading biographies of dynamic individuals and interviewing adventurous people. I found that people who are forerunners, pioneers and explorers in social, political and artistic expression invariably refer to one or more moments in their lives in which they opened to a peak experience. And not only do these resourceful people make reference to these extraordinary moments, they draw strength, wisdom and compassion from these glimpses of their true power. They have learned how to tap into these past moments of heightened awareness and achievement in order to surmount present life challenges. Whether it be excellence in athletic or artistic expression, or success in business or romance, these potent moments of “transcendence of the ordinary” act as wells of inspiration and inventiveness that enable people to handle current predicaments.
With a degree of benevolent innocence, I decided that if these people could break free of their restrictive belief systems and tap into the power of previous peak experiences, then I could as well. Their successes inspired me to try this approach myself—to reach beyond my perceived boundaries. The stories in this book report my exploration of inviting magic into my life and welcoming miracles into my world. It is my heartfelt wish that my stories inspire you to go beyond your own self-created limits.
Keith Varnum
Phoenix, Arizona
INTRODUCTION
There Is Only One Story
The Universe is made of stories, not atoms.
Muriel Rukeyser
There is only One Story:
Having . . . losing . . . finding,
Knowing . . . forgetting . . . remembering,
Hide and seek—
The drama of the outer personality and the inner soul,
The interplay of the external and the internal,
The dance of form and essence.
From the beginning of time, the One Story is told and retold in every culture in the form of books, movies, songs, myths, dances, rituals, games and art.
We keep telling the One Story through all these varied outer forms, so one day, when we are ready to remember, we will hear the One Story again:
One People, One Spirit, One Destiny.
If you listen to these stories with your heart, you will hear the One Story, and you will remember Your Story—
the story your inner being has to tell.
Enjoy.
My Story
This book is my expression of the One Story.
These pages tell the simple version and the complicated version.
The simple version is my life from the point of view of the soul, the real self. This rendition is the same as everyone else’s story. Every soul has the same story. Every spirit is on the same inner journey.
The complex version tells my life from the perspective of my outer personality. This rendition is different from everyone else’s story. Every personal identity has its special saga with its own unique plot. Every personality is on a different outer journey.
The soul uses multisensory perception to enjoy its world.
The personality usually limits itself to the five external senses.
The real self interacts with the physical and nonphysical worlds.
The personality confines itself to the world of outer physical sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.
The spirit’s story is full of similarity, connection and coincidence.
The personality’s tale is full of difference, division and happenstance.
The scenario of the real self focuses on unity, compassion and joy.
The script of the personality focuses on separation, anxiety and regret.
The goals of the real self are harmony, cooperation and understanding.
The personality’s agenda is conflict, competition and confusion.
The soul is into fun, ease and freedom.
The personality thrives on drama, trauma and karma.
Spirit’s story is guts and glory.
The personality’s yarn is guts and gore.
It takes guts to fully experience and embrace your personality’s epic struggle.
It takes even more courage to fully explore and embrace the triumph of your soul.
Through telling the story of my soul, I hope to remind you of the story of your own inner being.
As the spirit of my tale shines through the surface details, it may remind you of Spirit working behind the details of your personality’s fable.
As the outer appearances of my narration reveal the inner agenda of my real self, you may begin to see the common thread of soul intention running through the surface appearances of your life.
You get older and realize there are no answers, just stories. And how we love them.
Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion
Believe It or Not
Many individuals don’t believe my story.
It is too “farfetched.” Too far out.
I agree.
