Recently I heard a story about a man who was on his death bed. As he lay in bed, he pondered over what he had achieved in his lifetime, and he came to the conclusion that he had lived his life without making any mistakes whatsoever.
This was by far the man’s greatest and most virtuous achievement, having worked hard his whole life to always be right and perfect. He had spent 80 years in this pursuit, as it was really all that mattered to him. The man felt a tremendous sense of relief when he saw the enormity of what he had accomplished, and the power of what his life had represented. This moment of realization was the absolute best moment of the man’s life.
In truth, these 80 years were wasted. The man had limited his experiences because, in his pursuit of perfection, he was unwilling to take chances. His life had been cautious and plodding, and he had made sure that he was always correct in each and every action. Think about how many experiences this man must have missed, and how much richer his life would have been had he been willing to take risks, and had he been willing to be wrong. His life would have taken on an entirely new dimension and he would have been a completely different person altogether.
Most people are programmed, like this man was, to make “safety first” and to always try to be and do right. Being a strong person who is effective in the world, however, requires that one understands and accepts his true nature and all his strengths and limitations. The man on his deathbed felt a profound sense of happiness and relief when he realized that he had spent his entire life trying to be right–even though it had been at the expense of living a truly fulfilling life. Would you feel the same?
There is another story about a student who comes to a Zen master and asks him to reveal the secret of enlightenment.
The Zen master tells the student that after two years he will reveal the secret. All the student needs to do is come to work for the Zen master. For the next year the student cooks, cleans and works very hard for the Zen master. After two years the student asks the Zen master to reveal the secret of enlightenment.
“In one more year I will reveal it to you,” the Zen master says.
The Zen master gives the same response the following year and the year after that.
After five years have passed, the student becomes angry one evening and demands that the Zen master tell him the secret of enlightenment. Suddenly, without warning, the Zen master pushes the student off of the ledge they are both standing on. The student grabs on to a piece of rock. It is nighttime and he cannot see what is below; he is terrified that he will fall to his death. The Zen master walks away, leaving the student there clinging for his life.
Soon the sun rises. The student looks down and realizes he is hanging only a couple of inches from the ground. He experiences a profound shift in consciousness and becomes enlightened. He realizes that fear is only anticipation–and nothing more. The student had been hanging onto the ledge all night, fearful, due to the false anticipation that something bad would happen to him if he were to let go.
This story is similar to that of the man on his death bed. The man on his deathbed had spent his entire life in fear. He had feared what would happen to him if he were wrong. This fear kept him in bondage and prevented him from living the life he wanted. Just like the student of the Zen master was trapped by a false belief, so too is the man who spends his life trying to be right all the time.
A child by nature is extremely vulnerable. A child will fall down numerous times and will often cause harm unto itself. A child needs to be watched very carefully at all times. The reason for this is that the child’s nervous system is unclogged. However, as a child grows into adulthood, its nervous system becomes clogged. It creates numerous defenses, and begins constantly calculating how not to get hurt. As full grown adults, people go to therapy or yoga; they exercise excessively; they drink, use drugs and do all sorts of things in order to unclog their nervous systems. What is the drunk person other than someone who has intentionally unclogged his nervous system for a time, making himself vulnerable–and perhaps less fearful of making a mistake?
The journey for you to become successful begins with an awareness of where you are, and not an obsession with where you should be. In order to reach your potential you must be willing to take a chance and to be wrong, and you need to understand the nature of who you are.You can do, be and achieve anything you want in your life if you understand who and what you are.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt--
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