Every year I make mistakes.
I’m not talking about tripping on your shoelace.
I’m talking about the real doozys.
One year, when Avenues Yoga had only been open a short time, I brought in a renowned teacher from out of state and fronted his salary, with the expectation that enough students would come to his workshop to cover it.
Nope.
I vowed never to do that again.
But a couple of years later I got into a very similar situation because of a miscommunication with a co-sponsor. Again, I paid.
Oops.
This year, I was so certain that I was moving to San Diego I shipped all my things there on a big moving truck.
Today, thousands of dollars later, the truck and I are reunited, home in Vermont.
When I look back on my biggest mistakes each year, I balance the pain of growth with a sense of gratitude.
In this process, Ralph Nader has a saying that really speaks to me.
My biggest teacher is my last mistake.
The pain of making a mistake can provide a great wake-up call for the soul. When you stop to look at what you’re doing, and to see how things went wrong, an opportunity for learning and growth opens up.
With any “mistake,” we have an opportunity to reflect on our actions and learn from them. In the case of my mistakes, I can look at the patterns of action that led me to lose money and make better choices in the future.
It is said that you learn more in ten days of agony than in ten years of contentment.
Of course, if I had to choose, I would take the ten years of contentment. At least I imagine I would.
But when we are living vibrantly, and taking chances on making connections with people and living to our fullest potential, we will certainly make “mistakes.”
So if you’re out there feeling discouraged, as I do too at times when I look at what’s gone “wrong,” remember this:
Mistakes are a necessary byproduct of any journey worth taking.
They’re messengers that help point the way to our highest good. And, in that sense, they come in the interest of our highest good.
If we sit back for fear of making mistakes, we’ll never taste the adventure of life.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Namaste,
Erin
p.s. I will be co-teaching a November retreat at Red Mountain Resort with Mary Johnston-Coursey. The topic? Awakening the Energy Body. We’ll be doing A LOT of scrumptious clearing. If you’re ready to release some old patterns on a deeper level, consider joining us!
Email me for details: radiantenergyforlife@gmail.com