Success Is Trying

I listened to a podcast today. A life-changing podcast. It was called, "How to Succeed When You Fail" (link will be found at the end) so I almost didn't listen to it since I don't believe there's such a thing as failure, unless you make no attempts at all.  Or so I thought.

Let me tell you what I was doing to myself.... I had a holistic health centre for about 2.5 years and it was such a joy.  I had tons of new friends and people coming and going and using the centre. I did yoga (taught) a few times a week there so saw pregnant mammas and young babies and new moms and everyone in between.  I rented the space out to a dance instructor and enroled my own dauhter and saw how busy and loved the place was by others as well. 

Success for YOU is your OWN definition. Nobody else's.

BUT all that didn't bring in much income and when Summer hit I was down to NO income so decided to close the doors. I was devistated.  And lost. That was about 3 years ago and I've still felt lost or like I was tredding water until only very recently.

After listening to this podcast I came to some very interesting and attitude-altering realizations. I was nearly in tears and felt it hard to breathe on one hand but lighter on the other.

I didn't believe in failure, right? Nope. I was wrong. Apparently, I believed it for everyone else, except myself.  I would never tell anyone, adult or child that they failed.  Especially my own child. I know how that feels and it doens't have a place in my lovely life. But, my goal for my precious centre was to make a living and keep it... forever, I guess.  I don't really know where those goals came from.  Considering I have construction husband, those goals are very unrealistic, and then there's the fact that the area where I live isn't very 'holistic friendly'. 

According to Kristanne, in her podcast, my first goal would be to forgive myself.  So, I did. That's where the near-tears and extra effort to breathe came in ;-). Then, I reset my goals.  More realistic goals... I made life-long friends, opening a holistic health centre was a dream and was accomplished for 2.5 wonderful years, I successfully inspired others with yoga and meditation, and it was an amazing experience and memory.  Was it a success?? YES. Most definitely. It was too late to change the way I responded until right now so the next step was to re-evaluate the plan and take the best from the experience.

The new plan..?? Continue to inspire others with blogging and be an example with my vegan and minimalist-minded lifestyle. To love my life, have balance, rescue animals, make my home not only a sanctuary to animals but also to my husband and daughter.

Speaking of minimalism.. there's another way that I tend to beat myself up. I want my home to be, not really a show-house, that wouldn't be possible with 20 living beings inside (we have a sanctuary remember). But I want it close. Unrealistically close. I need to step back from that unrealistic goal and take it slower. Get inspired to do a little at a time. Today, my upstairs looks and smells amazing. Today, I added several things to the giveaway bag.  I gathered some books that I used to sell with the plan to donate them to my daughter's teacher.  A wonderful teacher who gave my daughter a pair of skates with nothing expected in return. A wonderful person who took the time to watch my daughter skate, for the first time, and encourage her. 

One step at a time.  Today... definitely a SUCCESS. 

How to Succeed When You Fail - by Kristianne Wargo from Podcast #599 Create Your Now.
https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iy4msnw2tzin5h4xsb2655p32py