The biggest casualty of a journey to self-discovery is one's ego. Your faults, your weaknesses, your past decisions come to the surface. Surprisingly however, what doesn't follow is the usual self-pity and shame of my imperfections. Instead, your soul whispers "Yes! I rejoice when you make mistakes! I welcome your weakness!"
At this point there are several options: one-- your soul is in some serious denial; two-- you can be offended that your soul is thriving off all your weaknesses; three-- you can ask why. So I decided to do just that (adding a dramatic flare just for the heck of it). "Oh soul of mine, why do you rejoice when I feel shame?"
"Because," says my soul patiently, "mistakes are signs of living; weaknesses are opportunities to grow; failures are chances to learn." My soul gave me much to ponder.... Could all that really be true?
"Do what's uncomfortable and scary and hard
but pays off in the long run. Be willing to fail.
Let yourself fail. Fail in a the way and place
where you would be proud to fail."
"The transformed self, living in union, no longer lives in shame or denial of its weakness, but even lives with rejoicing because it does not need to pretend that it is any more than it actually is-- which is now more than enough! 'When I am weak, I am strong,' Paul says to make the same point dramatically."
"Do what's uncomfortable and scary and hard but pays off in the long run. Be willing to fail. Let yourself fail. Fail in a the way and place where you would be proud to fail."
"I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me."
"Second chances are not given to make things right, But are given to prove that we could be better even after we fall."
I think what I keep forgetting is that making mistakes is part of life. If I truly believe that I came to Earth to continue on my journey to perfection, then why I am so ashamed that I'm falling short? Why I am so afraid to act, in case I do the wrong thing? Because, I'm imperfect!
So I'm going to start looking at life as my soul does. I'm going to embrace my imperfections. And yes, I'll most likely mess up or I'll act too rashly or I'll make a fool of myself but you know what? I'll be living. And laughing. And learning.
