“We can never truly fail as there are no errors in the system”, Mansukh Patel.
A few weeks ago I started a new routine, trying to find some extra time to practise breathing exercises every day. Since my mornings are already pretty full, I decided to do these exercises in the evening.
I stuck at it for a couple of weeks and then, slowly I started doing it every other day rather than every day and little by little, I stopped doing it altogether. I carried on doing my morning routine, but let go of the breathing exercises.
I started having a familiar nagging feeling of guilt, of inadequacy… I have a tendency to start something with the best intentions in the world and after a while, it will slide and I will revert back to my old habits.
Usually, at this point I leave it at that and move on to something else. This time, I decided that there was no point feeling guilty and sorry for myself both at the same time. I admitted that maybe the evenings are not the best time for me and that I could try instead in the morning, before my meditation. Two days in, I feel really good about it and it has made my morning routine of yoga and meditation more powerful.
Now, I can hear you say that since I had given up a few weeks ago, I might give up again in a little while. You may very well be right! The important thing for me this time is that I am not giving up. It didn’t work in the evening, I am now trying another time of the day. If this doesn’t work, I will try and find another approach.
Importantly for me, I have finally admitted that I am only human and that sometimes I will trip and not do what I have intended to do. This time though, I have cut short to the feeling guilty part of the process and have moved on to trying to find a solution.
Perseverance is the key in trying to make changes in your life, both small and big. If you fall, pick yourself up and start again. If it is a process, start again from day 1 if need be, but start again. The key is not to give up, to carry on aiming for our goals. Sometimes, we need to fail to find a new approach that would eventually work out to be better than the previous one.