Out of the frying pan ...
Author:
Rachel Larragy
A few months ago I received an email from the ICAI's Young Professionals group notifying readers of their search for 50 Chartered Accountants to take part in a sponsored Fire walk Challenge. Two of my friends are on the same mailing list and with tongue firmly in cheek I emailed and asked if either of them were up to the challenge. The first responded, as I had expected, stating his feet were far too delicate for such things. The second unfortunately, had taken me seriously and counter-challenged saying she was up to the task if I was. Much to my detriment I have yet to learn how to say no to a dare and so, with only myself to blame, I signed up to become a Firewalker.
The Fire walking event is mostly about the training beforehand. There's a two hour motivational session which has genuine benefits beyond the event itself.
Now I've done a bungee jump before and I know myself it's not the kind of thing you can encourage other people to do. With a bungee or a parachute jump you are either the kind of person who has a yen to do those things or not. I would however, recommend doing the Fire walk.
The Fire walk is more about facing your fears than getting some kind of adrenaline rush. With other extreme sports you know that, should it all go terribly wrong, you're really not going to know about it until it's too late and believe it or not there's a comfort in that. However, with the Fire walk if something goes wrong you're going to know about it and it's really going to hurt. The Fire walk is about learning that you can do something you had previously accepted as impossible.
The evening began with the harsh reality of signing our disclaimers. Then we were given a 2 hour motivational training session which thankfully contained little or no psycho-babble. The trainer was a really down-to-earth guy who made sure we were under no illusions that the coals we were to walk over were burning at 1236 degrees Fahrenheit (which is four times the temp at which flesh burns - just in case you need a point of reference). He was at pains to ensure we were reminded of this more than a few times. From the outset though, we were also told that we were not going to burn our feet - that the pinewood they were using burns at, yes, 1236 degrees, but that it is a poor conductor of heat. So, if we walked briskly over the coals no harm would come to us. I gained little comfort from that I can assure you.
Personally, I was hoping there would be some form of hypnotism involved in this training session.
Not one to be convinced too easily without proof, I was hoping that if I couldn't be convinced I could walk over the coals I could at least be deluded into doing so. No chance. About halfway through the training our instructor brought us out to see the fire. At this stage I should point out that this was very much like your barbeque scenario - lots and lots of flames to begin with but we would be walking on the coals once the flames were gone. I repeated this over and over to myself whilst looking at the flames which were threatening to melt the picture on my t-shirt I was standing so close - not very comforting. Then we had the opportunity to walk the length of the flames to count how many steps we would need to take to get from start to finish. Not being a tall person I was a tad concerned about this part but then again denial is a fantastic thing.
After another hour of training we were led back out to the Fire walk. Obviously it looked a lot more approachable this time but in fairness it was still FIRE!
As I said before, the ability to live in denial is key to doing this task. I just kept the sensible voice at bay and encouraged the stubborn voice to keep shouting that if so many others had done this then there was no way I couldn't. Momentum was built up fast and each walker stepped up instantly behind each other - all vying to have a go before the nerve was lost.
There were brisk walkers, walkers with purpose - against all advice there were some runners too 1 but those who slowed down along the way were quickly pushed along by the instructors. This was not a place to dilly-dally! My turn:
‘What's your name?’- Rachel
‘Are you ready?’
-Yes
‘Go!!!’
And I was off and I felt nothing - I couldn't believe it. I knew it was hot and some part of me registered the warmth but only barely. I was sure it mustn't be as hot as it was supposed to be but as I stood watching all the other walkers I could feel a serious amount of heat coming off the coals. At this point, I confess I had thought quite a lot during the day that perhaps this was one step too far in challenging myself in life and that really, I needed to sit myself down and thoroughly chastise myself for being so foolish if, of course, I was fortunate enough to not spend the evening with others doing so for me in A&E. Of all the challenges I've done this was the only one I wasn't sure I wanted to do and the fact that actually doing it was so easy just goes to prove that there's nothing as frightening as fear itself.
After the Fire walk, and no doubt with the hopes of cashing in on our adrenaline induced madness, the instructor told us of the next challenge - walking on glass. He asked if we would be interested in doing that for our next event. My friend was among the few to put her hand up and say she would do it. Thankfully, I managed to restrain myself and I am sincerely hoping that my new found sense will prevail. Then again, if she dares me……
Note: €20,000 was raised that evening for Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children and the ICAI Benevolent Society. Thanks to all of those people who supported the event.
1 A possible consequence of running is tripping, which is not a good prospect on a bed of hot coals.
Rachel Larragy, BA, ACA, works with Deloitte in Dublin.