Hello,
And welcome back to Session 3.
So delighted that you are still with me.
So we've looked at the things that you really like about yourself,
And I really hope that you're adding to that list each day as you discover more wonderful things about you.
We've also looked at listening with kindness,
And you've done some journaling about how that feels.
And in today's session,
We're going to be looking at mistakes and how much wisdom comes from them.
Before we start,
We're going to open our three presents together as usual.
And today,
We're going to be using our sense of sight.
So we're going to have our eyes open.
So let's begin.
Make sure that you're sitting really comfortably.
We'll open the first present.
So I want you to exhale,
Breathe out all of the air that's in your lungs.
And once you've done that,
Taking a long,
Slow breath in for the count of 1,
2,
3.
And hold.
1,
2,
3.
And exhale,
Let it go.
1,
2,
3.
And then let's breathe in again.
1,
2,
3.
And we're holding.
1,
2,
3.
And breathe out.
1,
2,
3.
Final time.
Breathing in.
1,
2,
3.
And holding.
1,
2,
3.
And a long sigh out.
1,
2,
3.
Well done.
Now,
Let's open our second present.
I want you to become very,
Very still as you are sitting.
Let's focus on your physical body,
Because as you know,
It's the only thing that is always in the present moment.
Let's just be here,
Breathing,
At home in your body,
Completely still.
Now,
Let's open the third present.
And today,
We're going to be using our eyes.
So I want you to look at your left hand.
Just bring all of your focus to your left hand and really look at it.
Take in the texture,
The color of the skin,
The shape of your fingernails.
Turn your hand over and look at the palm.
Notice the lines on the palm of your hand,
The tiny lines on the tips of your fingers,
Your fingerprints.
And just be here,
Breathing,
The rest of your body still,
Your sight fixed on your hand.
Welcome to the moment,
To the present.
And now just bring your attention to my voice as we think about the wisdom of our mistakes.
Many others are very worried about making mistakes.
But,
You know,
Mistakes can be our greatest teachers.
They can show us really important things about who we are and what we want in our lives.
And sometimes they can lead us to wonderful places,
Events and people that might never have otherwise happened.
There is a Chinese folk tale about a man who loses his horse and all of his neighbors think he has terrible luck.
But the next day,
The horse returns with a rare and beautiful mare.
Not good luck,
His neighbors think.
And then a week later,
The man's son rides the mare and falls off,
Breaking his leg and leaving himself permanently lame.
What terrible luck,
The neighbors think again.
And soon after,
There is a war and all the young men are called to go and fight.
But the man's son is saved because he is lame.
There's no way of telling what is a mistake and what isn't.
And maybe there is no such thing.
Maybe there really is just what is happening right now.
Neither good nor bad.
Full of unforeseen possibilities.
And when we can start to understand this,
We can really help ourselves and other people to see things in context.
To open up to opportunity rather than feeling overwhelmed by something that seems terrible now.
But maybe in a few hours,
Days,
Weeks,
Months or years,
It won't seem like a mistake.
It's an opportunity to learn,
To change or even to live a different,
Happier life.
Similar to the Chinese folk tale,
Winston Churchill famously said,
One must never forget when misfortunes come that it is quite possible they are saving one from something much worse or that when you make some great mistake,
It may very easily serve you better than the best advised decision.
So now I want you to think about something in your life that seemed like a mistake at the time,
But actually led to something good happening for you.
And I'm going to give you one minute to do that with some music playing,
And I'll be back for you when the minute is up.
So.
OK,
Great.
That's just about a minute.
Well done.
When we start to have this perspective on our mistakes,
We can begin to look at everything in our lives as a place where we grow,
Where our wisdom grows,
Where our insight grows.
And as we go on through our lives,
It is this wisdom and experience that will help heal and inspire the people that we meet.
In our next session,
We're going to be looking at the power of words,
The words that we hear and the words that we say.
Mm hmm.
