Not a meditation. Me talking, recorded from the road. Music underneath
I was on the road doing 500 miles in my wheelchair for the air ambulance when I got the message that a friend had died.
About 16 minutes. Not a meditation, just me talking.
He broke his neck a couple of years before I broke mine, same level, same everything. He wrote a book. He flew planes. An hour after I heard, my ego said carry on and my body said no, and I had that argument with myself the whole way. The gift is that I am still here and so are you. Do not go looking for one life purpose. Ask what your purpose is right now, and it is usually much smaller than you think.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
This is not a meditation and there is nothing to do in it.
I was halfway through five hundred miles in my electric wheelchair for the Cornwall Air Ambulance when I got a message that a friend had died, and I recorded this the same day.
It is here because a lot of people listen to the meditations and never hear the other podcast, and this one seemed worth sharing across.
What happens in this episode
He broke his neck a couple of years before I broke mine. C5 complete, the same as me. Paralysed arms, whole body, twenty four hour care. He wrote a book. He flew planes. He was a chef.
An hour after I heard, my ego said carry on and my body said no, and I had that argument with myself for the rest of the day.
Then the part I actually wanted to say. If you are listening to this, you are alive, and that is the thing worth marking. But saying it is not enough on its own. It has to be nourished, and the only thing I have found that does it is helping somebody else.
And a word about purpose. Do not go hunting for one big life purpose. Ask what your purpose is right now, which is usually much smaller and much nearer than you think.
How to get the most from it
Sixteen minutes, and there is nothing to sit for. Put it on while you are doing something else.
The same recording went out on Stillness in the Storms, so if you follow both you will have heard it.
If you want the practice rather than the talk, the meditations either side of this one are the usual sort.
Questions people ask
Is this a sad one?
There is grief in it and it is mostly a celebration. He had a dark sense of humour and would have had something to say about me getting sentimental on a hill.
Why is a talk on the meditation feed?
Because plenty of people only listen here, and this seemed worth crossing over. It does not happen often.
What is the thing about purpose?
That the big single purpose is a distraction. If you are cold, put a jumper on. If you have what you need, help somebody. That counts, and it is enough.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
update · personal-story
Read the transcript
Welcome to a podcast with a little difference on this Inner Peace Meditations podcast. Now then, if you're tuning in
expecting a meditation, this isn't one. But this is a podcast that I've recorded just a moment ago
for my Stillness in the Storms podcast. And it explains why I haven't uploaded any new meditations for
just a little bit.
And just my thoughts on the day. And this is the kind of podcast you'll get on stillness in the
storms. So
please enjoy. And in about two weeks time, normal stuff will resume
and I'll be uploading new Inner Peace Meditations. Until then, I'm doing 500 miles around Cornwall in my
electric wheelchair for the air ambulance. And here's a podcast I've just recorded for
my stillness in the storms.
Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stillness in the Storms. I haven't gone anywhere. I am still here.
Well, saying I haven't gone anywhere is kind of funny because I've been doing 500 miles in my electric wheelchair
around Cornwall to raise money for the air ambulance that 33 years ago saved my life.
And I just wanted to record a podcast because I've just broke the 250 miles
today. Most days I'm out on the road for five, six hours. But while I was out on the road
today, I had a
message that I'd lost a friend.
A dear friend that had the similar life to me. He broke his neck
and he was a C5 complete the same as me. And he did it just a couple of years before
me.
And he lives just up the road. And he was one of those people in a situation that...
What what can I say he To me, he played his cards well, to use an analogy.
And he was a chef
um I don't know whether he'd become a chef after his accident but he was paralysed. Paralysed arms, paralysed his
whole body. And he had 24 hour care and he had all those other things. He had all the issues
I have. And he wrote a book. And he flew planes. He he did all sorts.
And he was one of these ones that, you know, finds the gifts and plays plays the game of life
in an amazing way.
And not to sound um selfish but whenever you hear someone in a
similar situation or a similar age that pass on like he did last night, you immediately look at your
own mortality. And
you look at your life and you start to evaluate your life and
33 years after my accident. I
love my life. I'm doing so much with my life. But the hours on the road today just gave me
so much reflection.
And it's a mix between immense joy with what I do,
what I love, what I've achieved. You know, I've been a dad to my stepdaughter. Most
incredible thing. Being granddad now. Been on the road, raising money, saving lives.
So, you know, this isn't an upsetting podcast, although I got a tear in my eye. It's a
celebration that we're still here. If you're listening to this, you're alive.
And that's what I get from them
passing away. I
spoke to him less than a month ago and
he had the most wicked sense of humour um Quite dark at times
he He was always the words of brutal wisdom um even if you don't want to hear
it. And he'd phone me out with the blue and just say, what the hell are you doing? And sometimes
I needed that. And
I suppose we always presume people will always be there. Where's the gift? Well, the gift is I'm still here.
You're still here. And we don't know when our days are numbered, but we can get on and live life.
Or we can come on dragging our hands around and complaining about the bad
weather on a certain day, which is non-permanent. We can complain about the aches and pains. You know, when I
started off this morning driving down the first mile my my body said, really? You're doing this again?
And my head goes, yeah. And my ego's going, yeah. My heart's going, oh, come on, just one
more day. And all those different voices and my body's going, no. For about an hour I had that internal
dialogue and it just... It's
what happens all the time. You know, the voices of complaint, the voices of encouragement and it's which one we
allow win. I think there was some wisdom years ago that someone said you have these two inside of you
who has the negative and positive or the lion and the tiger, I don't know. And someone says, well, which
one wins it said the one you allow. And I think that's... You know, I talk about on the podcast
quite often about the 10,000 voices. And we all have them. We all have that
inner dialogue. Well put it to me I don't know anybody that hasn't. I know people that have got a
quieter inner dialogue. But mine's pretty constant. It's like a bloody committee. And
it's like I'm trying to compare a committee, but nobody's listening to me all the time. It's way easier to
chair the council members than it is to try to chair the voices in my head. And the voices in
my body don't get listened to knowing it so much. My heart doesn't get listened to knowing it so much.
And when you have something like this, an hour in and I get the message and you
just stop and you look at the road ahead of you. And
you realise what you're doing. I'm raising money for the Cornwall Air Ambulance, which saves lives. And
what a beautiful reminder of how precious life is. How
precious your life is right now.
Mine
And everybody we know.
But I don't think it's enough to just go, hey, I'm alive. This is this is amazing I think you
have to find that nourishment in something. And the only way I found anything to nourish me is when
I've done something for somebody else, when I'm helping somebody else. And over the past two weeks, I've done
260 something miles And people come and tell me their stories all the time. Of
how the air ambulance helped them. And there's a wonderful synchronicity to every story of how much they appreciate life
and how much they, even if it's just temporary, they got on and did things they never thought they would
do.
And nearly all of them give every month or do something or volunteer.
And that's the only thing that I have found in life that really does, and
nourish my soul, that sounds so cheesy. It sounds, I don't know.
It does. I haven't got any other words for it. It's just the the filling of the cup with
something that really does last and has a warmth it has a love
that is just
more wholesome, I guess. I don't know if the English language has words for these things, but I certainly haven't
got them. But that feeling of, ah.
And I suppose we meditate and we sit and we contemplate. This has been the longest meditation of my
life, doing these 260 miles I got 240 to go and I'm looking forward to them. I'm
exhausted. I am absolutely exhausted I I never realised how much I have to concentrate on the road. I
have to concentrate on every single bump because if I literally hit the bump, I will come out the chair
because potholes to a car are like bumps. They're like um chasms They're like the Grand Canyon to a wheelchair.
So I have to concentrate. I can't just swerve around them because if a car is behind me or something
like that. So literally every moment I'm really focusing on the chair and our roads are not designed for a
wheelchair And
I'm exhausted. I'm tired. And that's okay. But I wanted to record the podcast I wanted to
say thank you to you for hanging in there, listening to the podcast. And um you you treat me to
a coffee which helps to keep this podcast here because they cost monthly. And
you listen to my Inner Peace Meditations podcast and you send me how much I change your life. And I
don't know how to respond to that because I feel like running because...
I feel, don't put that responsibility onto me. It's not me changing your life, it's you changing your life. I'm
just maybe giving you a few pointers where to look.
But ultimately, just
try to find something in life you love and
just do that. And I don't mean in a find your purpose because I think finding your
one life purpose, I think that's bollocks. I think your purpose right now is if you're cold, put on a
jumper. If
you're if you've got a full belly and you're warm and you've got everything you need right now, help somebody
else. And
that's your purpose. Don't
complicate it.
We complicate everything we like oh, what's my life on purpose? What if I get to the end of my
life and I didn't find my life purpose? What if I didn't do the career? Just stop.
What's your purpose right now? Listen to this podcast.
What's your purpose after that? Do the thing that makes you comfortable. You
know, like I say, if you're cold, put on jumper if your heart take off jumper If you're hungry, make
a sandwich.
If you feel like you love someone, pick up the phone and say, I love You
Whatever that purpose is right now to to improve your life from this current position, that's it. That's
enough. You don't need more.
And I think that's why right now... I'm really enjoying doing these 500 miles. And when people say
to me, do you want Steven You're amazing. You're like the hero you're doing No I don't need any of
that. It's nice to hear. Of course it is. My ego, I got a huge ego because I have
um You know, what ego doesn't like to be straight like that. But really the the deeper down
um ego with a little wisdom, if ego ever has the ability to have wisdom
it's It's enough already just to know that I feel like I'm living my
purpose that moment. And
my purpose when I got that message was to carry on down that road
And think about consciously what
his life, what my life, what our life collectively means. You know the one thing humans do
really brilliantly and butcher brilliantly at the same time is philosophy.
I have yet to come across a brilliant philosopher that actually comes up with an answer.
But that's philosophy when it
comes up with more questions, I guess.
Just think deeper and have wisdom. Wisdom is compassion and
understanding for everyone. We're all in this together. We're all struggling with the same things.
Even the people we deem as enemies are struggling with exactly the same things we're struggling with. It
may it may look different. It may be a different colour than yours. You
know, the painting may be the framework, what they're seeing from their perspective, what their life has taken them to
may be different from yours. But believe me, it's the same struggle. It's the same 10 000 voices inside. It's
the same inner dialogue.
So just help people fulfill their purpose right now. And that purpose right now is how can I
help
and if you cannot And if you need something for yourself, do that first.
And then you can turn the needle the other way and how can I help somebody else? And
the needle isn't a permanent fixture in a one way it It's more pointed towards yourself and the inner self
than it is ever pointed outside. And
that's the truth. If
you're going to face your needle always helping other people, you will never... You'll
never get through it. You'll be drained.
You need to point that needle to yourself. How can I help me? What do I need right now?
And once we got over the materialistic little things like heating and warmth and comfort, what
do I need for the bigger picture? And
that would almost always come down to helping someone else, whether it's you, your family,
strangers or anything.
So I don't know the topic of this podcast. It is what it is
and
If you want me to just record more It Is What It Is podcast on my thinking of the day,
I'm happy to do that as well. But at the moment, I'm halfway through being out on the road nearly
every day and I'm exhausted. And
I'm thank you for my patience. My patience. Thank you for your patience and your
understanding and your love and your support on this podcast. I'm Steven Webb, your host and You
can always help this podcast and keep it free and advert free by going to StevenWebb.uk and
