Divine Failures

Three years ago, I was invited to Thailand along with a colleague to offer some training to a group of monks and nuns. I was thrilled and somewhat nervous about bringing training to these inherently wise people.

At one point during the workshop, we were doing an exercise that required some of the participants to voluntarily come up to the front of the room to practice. After the exercise was over, we were all discussing the experience as a group, when one of the monks who had been sitting quiet for a while finally spoke up.

He generously shared his experience, telling us that he wanted to get up during the exercise to practice but his Distorted Self wouldn’t let him. He found himself stuck in his chair, afraid to get up. We were stunned by this sharing because he had been a very active contributor up to that point—and because he was an accomplished monk. It hadn’t occurred to us that he, too, would be managing his Distorted Self.

I was thrilled by what I was hearing, for a couple of reasons. By naming what he was experiencing, he was finding the power to manage his Distorted Self in the future. Also, I felt his sharing gave a message of hope because it showed the rest of us how normal it is to have a Distorted Self—even this monk was still learning how to manage his. It was an example that this is just a normal aspect of life and therefore something we all get to work through each day, one day at a time.

There is nothing wrong with you because you have a Distorted Self speaking to you often. You are just a brilliant human having a normal human experience.

Your job as an awakened human is to learn from what works and what doesn’t, and to then carry the learning forward. Your Divine Essence will find a completely different learning than what your Distorted Self will find. You are always in charge of what aspect of your Self you turn to in every situation. 

Patrick Ryan
Chief Waker Upper

Patrick Ryan is an internationally recognized executive coach, leadership trainer, registered clinical hypnotherapist, entrepreneur, #1 bestselling author, and founder of Vancouver Coaching and Awakened Wisdom Experiences.