Last post I talked about noticing the fact that, a lot of the time, we are doing things to convince ourselves that we are enough, or to cover up the feeling that we are not enough.
And I suggested that when we see that, our experience begins to change. Life begins to feel a little lighter, a little less serious, a little more joyful. We begin to see the exquisite dance that is always in motion around us and in us.
When we create from that place, our unique gifts tend to show up in their full glory.
There are some classic questions that get at this—
“What would you do if you could not fail?”
“What would you do if money were no object?”
“What would you do if you never had to work again?”
In my experience, the reason that these questions are so powerful is that they are already true.
You cannot fail
You cannot “fail.” What you might define as failure is simply an experiment that has gathered data. How you use the data defines whether the experiment is a failure, not the data itself. The Wright Brothers tried hundreds of times before the first successful flight. Thomas Edison’s team tried 1000 times before they had a working light bulb.
Similarly, as Silicon Valley can attest to, money is never an object. If you have a good idea and do the work you can raise any amount of money you wish.
For most people, the answer to these questions has something to do with the unique capacity that each of us has to create. And the joy that we receive in that act of creation.
But of course creation is not and cannot be all joy. Unless you see joy as something that is deeply present, no matter what, like the energy of life itself.
You can have anything you want
Another of my favorite quotes is from the spiritual teacher Byron Katie—
“You can have anything you want, as long as you are willing to ask 1000 people.”
Creation plus commitment. These seem to be the requirements. The universe seems to respond when we create something and stay committed to it. When we say or do something that might be seen as crazy, over and over again, until it becomes the accepted wisdom.
This is what I strive to do with my writing, my coaching, my teaching. To help you think just a bit differently, to see just a bit differently, knowing that at some point you might have an insight that will change the world.
Here’s another question for you—
What would you be willing to devote your whole life to, in joy and in suffering, even if you never succeeded?
What must you do no matter what?
That’s your gift. Keep bringing it.