Ep. 59: Misogi Challenge with Kenan Jackson

In his book, "The Comfort Crisis," author Michael Easter writes, "Doing physically hard things is an enormous life hack. Do hard things and the rest of life gets easier and you appreciate it all the more.” In the book, he goes into great detail as to what a Misogi challenge is and what differentiates it from the plethora of other challenges we all face on a regular basis. The first rule of a Misogi is that it has to be really, really hard. In fact, when choosing to embark on a Misogi challenge there should be at least a 50% chance that you will fail. The second rule of the Misogi is don't die.As podcast host, Jesse Deubel was scaling the side of a near-vertical cliff following the route chosen by this podcast's guest, Kenan Jackson, it was that second rule that weighed heavy on Jesse's mind. As if he could sense Jesse's concern, Kenan paused his ascent and looked back and said to Jesse, "This reminds me of skydiving." "Why, because we should probably be wearing parachutes?" Jesse responded.Kenan laughed and explained that just as when he's jumped from airplanes the heightened adrenaline and mental awareness of being in a position where the continuation of life is not guaranteed somehow amplifies the gift that being alive is. "Like with skydiving, something could happen that's completely out of your control and that would be the end. If one of these rocks broke loose, we'd be done. They've probably been here for millions of years, but they're just teetering here, barely avoiding the gravitational pull that's yanking down on them and on us." "Yeah. Thanks for that reassurance." Kenan laughed. "We're almost to the top!" It turns out that "the top" is where Kenan prefers to spend his time. Just three weeks after Jesse and Kenan negotiated those cliffs on a barbary sheep hunt, Kenan was in Houston, TX voluntarily locked in an octagonal cage to fight the highly accomplished mixed martial artist Aaron Phillips, originally from Kotzebue, Alaska. In this episode, Jesse and Kenan talk about hunting, fighting, competing, respect and communication. They talk about the challenges life throws at us and how proactively choosing our own Misogi challenges can help us overcome those obstacles we didn't ask for. Enjoy the listen!     For more info:NMWF Website