Where’s the Fire?

“Where’s the fire?”

It’s a phrase people used to say — especially in the 70s and 80s — when someone moved a little too fast. It meant: slow down… relax… you’ve got time. Why the rush?

But some people hear that question differently.

Because sometimes the fire isn’t outside. Sometimes the fire is inside.

There are people who live comfortably at one speed. They wake up, go to work, come home, put their feet on the ottoman, turn on the TV, and repeat. Nothing wrong with that — they worked hard for it. Stability is the goal. Calm is the reward. Predictability feels safe.

Then there are the other people.

The ones whose brains never stop moving. Thinking, building, learning, fixing, trying, failing, trying again — sometimes all before lunch. Their mind doesn’t idle; it revs. Ideas spin constantly. Plans form at odd hours. Solutions appear where others see problems.

Those people get asked, Where’s the fire?

For them, the answer is simple: the fire lives in the gut, the heart, the brain — the whole body. It’s the internal engine pushing forward before there’s a map. It’s throwing spaghetti at the wall not because they’re lost, but because they’re searching for their place in the world. Movement creates clarity. Action creates understanding.

But that pace makes others uncomfortable. Not intentionally — just naturally.

When someone is constantly doing, building, and risking, it disrupts the calm rhythm around them. The couch-sitters feel tired just watching. The planners feel uneasy around unpredictability. The secure feel nervous around possibility.
So they say, slow down.

They don’t mean harm. They mean relief — mostly for themselves.

They’ve earned rest. They like their 9-to-5, their retirement, their savings, their schedule. Comfort is success to them, and they achieved it. Watching someone sprint toward uncertainty feels exhausting.

But for the person with the fire, slowing down isn’t peaceful — it’s suffocating.

The motion isn’t chaos; it’s oxygen.

Not everyone is wired for constant motion, just as not everyone is wired for stillness. One isn’t better than the other. They’re simply different operating systems.

Some people rest to feel alive. Some people build to feel alive.

So when they hear, Where’s the fire?

They already know the answer.

The fire isn’t a problem to solve — it’s a fuel to use.

Wendy Kushel is the owner of Wendala’s LowCountry Sugar Scrub, LLC based in Bluffton. Drawn to the beauty and personal care industry, Wendy founded her company in 2020. Her background includes stand-up comedy, film, TV and a lot of sales and marketing. For more information about Wendala’s® LowCountry Sugar Scrub visit www.lowcountrysugarscrub.com or call/text 843-949-8933.