Are you a failure? or is this growth?

I hate running late. I am already stressed out when I get to the train station.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see the last train pulling away from the station. On reflex, I start running and break into a full sprint. My adrenaline pumps my heartbeat into my ears. I hold tight to my phone, afraid it will fly out of my hand. I keep going. Only a few more steps …I make it just in time!

Safely on board, panting and doubled-over, I drop my bag and laugh to myself. I think, “I still got it!” It felt like a movie!

I look around at the people on the train absorbed in their phones and with their headphones in. I am eager to make eye contact with someone to ask, “Did you see that?! That was crazy, right?”

Disappointed that no one wants to play my game of humble brag, I’m left with my own thoughts about what a hero I clearly am. I replay the whole scene, starting when I left my house.

Then I look down at my bag. I have stopped panting and it suddenly dawns on me that I’m living in the past. All of that running and worrying and stress are left on the platform. None of it matters.

I am on the train now.

I am heading in a new direction.

I am not the person who got me here. I am here because of the choices I made to get myself here.

The same is true of my life, the result of what I have learned and achieved. The Robert who got me here is onto a new adventure.

This is the time of year when we pause to assess how we are doing and consider making a fresh start. We vow to shape the life we desire with new year resolutions, by manifesting, and by building new habits.

You and I have formed a relationship. Part of that relationship is me sending out weekly emails. I hope that part of our relationship is you sharing my thoughts with others who would benefit from them.

Today this post represents the first step in a new direction.

I feel expansive. I am exploring territories outside of my comfort zone like hypnotherapy. My mind and body want me to keep drawing inside the lines. The problem with this …

If I don’t make mistakes, I take the long road around to learning and growing.

Failure has a bad rep. It wasn’t just school that gaslit us. Our neurology is built to survive crisis points, to fight or flee in the face of danger. But …

Failing is not life-threatening. It isn’t even dangerous most of the time. In fact, failing faster makes a lot more sense than getting straight A’s.

Think about the mistakes and missteps that made you who you are. Would you trade them in? Would you change the crooked path you took to get where you are now?

I certainly wouldn’t.

photo credit: Hanson Lu/Unsplash