It was a moment I’ve experienced countless times: I had a decision to make, and felt the familiar voice of my intuition nudging me in a particular direction. The problem was, it was a direction I didn't want to go in. I chose to follow my wants rather than my intuition, my mind skillfully rationalizing why this was the better choice, winning out over the non-rational, non-linear wisdom of my gut. Turns out that my intuition was right, and as a result of not following it, I created a situation that may have harmed someone I care about.
Have you had this experience before? Your intuition urging one direction, but you choose another? Or perhaps you did follow what you thought was the voice of your intuition, but instead it was the voice of an old fear or limiting belief, and it led you astray? Sometimes the outcomes of such intuitive mishaps are inconsequential. But sometimes they are not, resulting in harm to ourselves or others.
It happens. Sometimes we’re wrong, especially when we are learning a new way of being—doing the critical work to interpret and follow the non-linear, sometimes irrational, inner compass of our intuition. And in building this capacity, we will inevitably make mistakes.
How we respond when we do is critical. Our response to making mistakes—our internal feelings about it and the actions we take as a result—will influence not only our ability to continue to learn and grow, but also our ability to show up for others with integrity. The guilt and shame that can come when we make a mistake that causes harm has the potential to cause further harm if we respond by:
Denying the mistake, representing ourselves as infallible and shifting blame to others
Deciding that making mistakes means we are fundamentally a bad person, causing us to shut down or to act from that belief that we are bad
Turning away from our intuition, believing that it will always lead us astray, thereby shutting down this critical guidance and point of connection to our soul’s true self.
So, how do we ensure that we respond to our mistakes with integrity, resilience and accountability, rather than with shame, blame and denial? In spending the past seven years working with my intuition, I have found that self-compassion is the surest, most reliable route back to balance in the face of my mistakes. And the most reliable way to ensure that I choose to take responsibility for any harm my mistake may have caused. By being in a regular practice of honest personal inventory, paired with self-compassion practices, I have been able to navigate my mistakes and the harm they sometimes cause without blaming others or abandoning my intuition. Self-compassion is what I turned to this week, when turning away from my intuition caused harm.
The system of Reiki offers us a strong and consistent framework for conducting personal inventory and applying the medicine of self-compassion. The video below shares more about the role of compassion as the foundation of the system of Reiki, and how the practice of self-compassion builds our resilience when working through the outcomes of our mistakes.