Failures before success
They are not easy
A lot of successful people talk about how they failed a lot of times before they reached where they were. Many times, they are so successful when they give these motivational speeches, that it’s just so hard to connect with them and imagine us in that failure moment. So many people give up after that first failure.
Due to my past trauma and quite a strict childhood, I had a very hard time taking any criticism. It was the worst thing for me. I would feel like quitting it all and leaving thinking I am just not good enough and I cannot do this. The first time I gave my partner to review my school essay, I cried when I saw it back. The amount of red marks it had was so upsetting! I could not read the remarks and comments and just felt like this essay was terrible! I deleted the whole thing and started over. From then to today, I have been able to digest criticisms more in my essay. I am not sure how I am fairing on other ends but I can tell you it is not easy!
Holistic mental health has become my passion, so yoga, fits very naturally into that. Somehow, yoga has been a place of interest for many years. I remember doing the first few stretches around 8 years ago thinking how wonderfully it changed my body. From never being able to put my knees low in a folded seated position, I can now sit and meditate for a long time that way. I knew that is what I wanted to learn but also share. The benefits of yoga are so vast, that it is but selfish to keep it yourself.
However, at this moment I am going through the initial failures that one only talks about after reaching success. The excitement of starting classes and having no one show up, the push for agreeing to any low price with a client just so that you have one confirmed monthly client, it is not an easy journey. I know I will not quit because it is the journey I want to take. But the failures before the success are sometimes scary, sometimes demotivating and sometimes overwhelming. Did I choose the wrong path? If I don’t look all slim with a flat belly and cannot do a chakrasana, am I really a yoga teacher?
So here I am sharing my fears with you all, maybe even my future clients that I am starting out pretty hard! And although sometimes the temptation to quit is quite high, the belief that this is the path I want to take i quite clear. So I will try, and keep trying… and one day, I hope that I will fulfil this goal of being a holistic mental health guide. For now, we keep the imposter syndrome aside and keep pushing.