How many people have ever failed? My guess? 100 percent of us. I have – many times!
Sometimes it is something small and annoying, such as when I get to work without my
cellphone and have to drive home again before starting to work. The next time I leave the
house, I go through my mental checklist – “Watch, keys, cellphone?” Or it can be something
that is devastating at the time such as a child enjoying an ice cream cone on a hot summer day
and suddenly seeing the ice cream fall out of the cone onto the pavement where a dog happily
licks it all up. Soon the amused parents may be trying to hide their smiles while they comfort
their crying child. No doubt that child will carefully guard their next ice cream cone with their
full attention.
These examples make it seem easy to fail, learn from our failure, adjust, and come back next
time with a better plan and, hopefully, success.
But what about the times when we are working on an important project and we fail to achieve
the desired outcome? Even worse, what if we fail publicly or in front of someone we want to
impress? Or perhaps even worse, what if we fail because of something we did but come to
deeply regret? How do we find our way back so we can try again? How do we maintain our
belief in ourselves and our resilience?
Living in wonder allows us to take a step back and be like the child’s parents comforting their
child crying over a lost ice cream cone. They know that there will be another ice cream cone
and that this moment is just a precious memory along the path as their child grows from a
toddler to a teenager to an adult. With faith in the amazing Divine Spirit expressing Itself as
their child, they can trust that their child will not only master eating an ice cream cone, but also
evolve into an adult who has learns to ride a bicycle, finish school, choose a career and seek out
a loving relationship. The journey will have surprises along the way, but it always moves
forward.
Similarly, wonder can lead us to recognize and trust that our life is part of the continuous flow
of the One Life into form. We set our intention and then choose our path forward. When
something doesn’t work out as we planned, we can choose to stay stuck where we are and feel
like a failure. Alternatively, we can wonder how this experience, like every other, is a learning
step carrying us closer to fulfilling that intention. Our Inner Guide is always ready to suggest
how we move forward, including failing forward into success.
Love and light,
Rev. Pam
