Wholeness

A girl in a orange t-shirt and jeans is running amid a wheat field. Above her, there's a text that reads learning is freedom

Learning Is Freedom: Why Is Failure a Gift?

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.” Friedrich Nietzsche. We live in a society that is apprehensive about failing. We have many mechanisms to achieve success, from how we dress to how we select our career steps. Yet the value of failure as a learning opportunity, as an opportunity to learn and move forward, isn’t recognized. That’s why learning is freedom. When we give ourselves a chance to learn, to see the world and our experiences as our teachers, everything changes. A shift in our perspective occurs, giving us the strength to keep going and doing what we are passionate about. In this scenario, every fall ceases to be a time to mourn and feel bad because we failed. Instead, it becomes an opportunity to understand that learning is freedom, that every fall is a chance to learn something new. Something new can mean discovering an element of our environment we were not aware of. Yet, the most important lessons are those that make us go within and ask what we learned about ourselves. That’s how failure becomes a gift. That’s how failure tells us what didn’t work to make the necessary changes to start over. What feedback can we get from failure? We miss important feedback as we are amid constant judgments about failing. In contrast, we love successful people, yet we seldom recognize their investments, determination, and dedication to learning and moving forward.  We rarely ask who was behind these people, who encouraged them to innovate and try new things. Moreover, we rarely recognize their courage to take risks and accept their mistakes and try again.  We support the value of results more than the value of innovation, creation, and creating oneself. In that process, we forget to value failure as a gift of feedback, as the gift of trying something new. Thus, it is never a loss of time and resources. When we step back, go within, and ask ourselves for the lessons we learned from that process, we are investing. As any successful results are made from mistakes, from trial and error, we could say that failure is even a good thing. In other words, learning is freedom because we free ourselves from the fear to fail. Now failure is welcome as an opportunity to learn something new. Failure becomes a chance to try again, to keep creating. Look at it as a journey. Even though we know where we are going, we can’t possibly know what will happen while we are traveling. The people we meet, and the experiences we have while on the road will be with us forever. We just have to think about the lessons we can learn from them. In conclusion… Let’s congratulate ourselves for experiencing new things, and for innovating. Today, it is time to take responsibility for a creative life, a life filled with the joy of creation.  Let’s find a way to feel gratitude for our perceived failures and rename them as “learning opportunities,” as gifts to move us forward to a brighter future, to a life with even more creative potential.  Let’s celebrate the lives of people who have dared to innovate, learn, and create. They were able to internalize that learning is freedom, and that failure is a gift. So can we. In gratitude to Dr. W, who always said “kiddo everything is a learning opportunity.”

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Doing & Being

Doing & Being By Virginia Nava Hieger “Use a more human perspective of business that includes listening to your body, intuition, and wisdom—and then take action. Take time to incorporate aspects that inspire you: music, colors, fresh air, or a dance break. This can be as simple as a five-minute break. Take time to take action, and let go of perfection. Take action and create progress.” Do you want to achieve more clarity and focus—and less overwhelm? I have noticed lately with CEOs and entrepreneurs that there is an imbalance of energy. Personally, I notice that when I am unaware or unintentional, I can fall into either doing or being. I have noticed that a balance of energy is key for success, with clarity and focus. When the energy of doing is too apparent you can see the side effects: mental exhaustion, lack of clarity, too many ideas rolling all over the place, meetings without focus. When the energy of doing is focused and balanced, it can lead to great results: effectiveness, productivity and focus. When the energy of being is available, its results are a great openness: in conversations, in learning from opportunities or perceived mistakes, and in being able to hear oneself and decide what is best to accomplish goals. When the energy of being is lacking, there’s a disconnection from self, from the whole-being and more logical tendencies, and from inner knowing and wisdom. How can you become more aware of the levels of balance between doing and being? Start by noticing exhaustion levels and openness levels, as well as the amounts of clarity and productivity in your life. Instead of going about the general way of business, which was created in the industrial era and focused on mass-production and machines, use a more human perspective of business that includes listening to your body, intuition, and wisdom—and then take action. Take time to incorporate aspects that inspire you: music, colors, fresh air, or a dance break. This can be as simple as a five-minute break. Take time to take action, and let go of perfection. Take action and create progress. The combination of being and doing brings a sense of wholeness and allowing flow. There may be times that are too unbalanced, or too demanding emotionally, and so your sense of doing and being needs to be more mindful. To summarize: -Write: 5 things that inspire you that you can do in 5 minutes. -Write: 5 things that you can do to move yourself forward in the highest service of you and the world. -Write how and why both being and doing can serve you: -How do you feel during a walk, in the shower, sitting playing, or contemplating an idea? -How do you feel when you are doing things with purpose?    

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The Mystery of Life

The Mystery of Life By Virginia Nava Hieger From time to time life throws you curve balls, unexpected miracles, synchronicities, and unexpected shifts. Some of the major moments of my life have been those unexpected miracles which are magical and mysterious. I am grateful for each of these moments that have allowed me to enjoy the beauty of life, letting go of the idea of controlling the outcome and instead participating in the flow of life. I am excited for all the beauty of the world, including the different seasons of life, of nature, and the world. May we love the synchronicities, the cha-cha steps, the dance of life, the beauty of our humanity, the resilience of our spirit and the joy of our children’s laughter. May the mystery of life bring with it miracles beyond your imagination and bring you the opportunity to be your true self and connect in deep ways within and with humanity.

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