“ …but the net’s unbreakable so don’t worry about falling..."

“ …but the net’s unbreakable so don’t worry about falling. The voice that you ignore might be your future calling …” Song lyrics from Mercury by Phish

A friend of mine from High School started a personal training business and he posts quotes daily with the intention to motivate people to create their best life by getting healthy. He posted this quote, which I later learned was lyrics to part of the Phish song, Mercury. I immediately connected to these lyrics. I don’t know what the band’s meaning for the song is, but for me the idea of success and failure resonated. That question of “what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail,” came to mind. So many people struggle with the idea of failing. Through the work I have done over the years and my own experience, I have come to believe truly that people are as much afraid of success as they are of failure, maybe more so. I know that this has been an ongoing struggle for me.

We have spent our lives failing at things because that is the process of learning. We failed the first time we tried to walk, the first time we tried to talk, the first time we fed ourselves, and so on. The majority of our physical learning is done by not doing it right the first time – in other words by failing. We don’t like to use the word “failure”. Instead we say things like “trial and error”, “practice makes perfect” or “I was learning”. Whatever we want to call it, the concept of failure is a natural part of our learning process.

Now success is something else, isn’t it? People want to experience some level of success; people want to have mastery over a skill and have a sense of competence. However, for most people that is where it stops. Most of us don’t want to push ourselves too hard; many of us don’t want to do the work. Not because we are lazy, but because we are scared. We are comfortable with what we know and where we are, and change is scary. What would it mean if I pushed beyond my comfort level and basic mastery to real success? Because like the kid who failed when she tied her shoes, once she had learned how to do it, she became responsible for tying her shoes on her own from then onwards. What I take away from the song lyrics is that fear is keeping us from fully reaching success, but there is nothing to really fear. So, take the risk. Be brave.

What is holding you back? “The net is unbreakable … your future is calling.” Having someone to talk to in a safe space makes things less scary. Let me help you hear that voice from your future calling.

Corey

Corey Lindner Counseling

www.coreylindnerlcsw.com