I had an epic fail while I was in the middle of writing this book. You’re welcome to to ask me about it in a live event one day.
In the meantime, since the picture is about ducks – if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – is it really a failure? Or is failure just another change place on the way to achieving a bigger something that you care about?
Are you curious to know if that’s true? Is failure just another change place on the way to achieving what you want? To creating and changing what you care about?
Let’s find out shall we?
After all the experiences you’ve had so far with following the rhythm of the words, noticing feelings, breathing, smiling and curiosity, some feelings will be flowing easier now without so much resistance.
In this instance where we’re talking about the message of failure, if that’s a bit sticky, you could simply pause, breathe into whatever you’re feeling with the intent to get to the bottom of them, bring in some curiosity that will bring you relief and the ability to flow with those feelings instead of being stuck in them.
Here’s the more supported version for those whose feelings about failure are beyond a brief pause.
Reading sloooowly and doing this while you read. Pay gentle attention to your outward breath and the way that the lower part of your ribs just squashes the air from your lungs. And you’re not doing that on purpose, you’re just noticing the movement of the ribs on the outward breath.
And for another breath…
And another…
And we’re going to sit with noticing the effect of a smile for a few breaths. Smiling with your eyes and noticing what that smile feels like in your body. If this failure is a big one and you can’t find even a tiny smile at the moment, then put a pen between your teeth, because even a fake smile releases the feel good hormones that make these exercises easier.
And another breath…
And another…
Feeling like we’ve failed can be a big deal, with big feelings, so sit with the breath for as long as you need, to get the feeling of that faint smile before reading on…
Can you get curious about whether it’s true or not “Is failure just another change place – bringing something you need to change – a change place that’s designed to actually help you to create something new or different or change something that you care about?”
Smiling a little and breathing…
Open to the idea that some of what you’re feeling may not be yours.
And another breath…
and another…
Having the Magic Questions tucked into the back of your mind, but no need to actually think about them. “Whose is it? What do I need to now or do about it? And has it all gone yet?” Curious about what that could be.
Smiling a little and breathing…
And another breath…
Just smiling a little, breathing and curious…
Can you feel what changes in your body as you feel that curiosity? Notice those changes and be curious about them too…
Smiling a little and breathing and wondering “What’s the message here? What could the inside of me be telling my conscious mind?”
For another breath…
and another…
Knowing that where the curiosity flows, the answer is following.
And it will come, now or later…
When you finished checking out with curiosity any feelings in your body around our talk about failure, stand up, walk it in slowly as your body processes any change. Flex your feet on the ground, really feel them bending and flexing. Feel the BEingness of the earth beneath you as you walk slowly.
Pay attention to what happens around you after bringing in that curiosity. AAAAnd come join us in a live event if you need more support on this one or if you’re in a hurry to figure out what this change might be. There’s a link to the free ones here.
Photo: Arty the wild born, wood duck was crippled as a baby and unable to fly. He came to numerous sleep-over horse and healing workshops with his person Francis. I can vividly remember the hilarity around our kitchen table when we realized that Frances got up during the night every night for 9 years to this personality plus duck, every time his little murmuring quacks awakened her.
This paver to raise money to get the wonderfully unique Nar Nar Goon Light Horse Museum running again, is dedicated to Artie’s memory. As you can see, he lived to a ripe old age. That was a lot of getting up in the middle of the night.
