September 11th, 2010 by rob white
Here are some illuminating tips that have turned my life around 180 degrees. Ponder them. Take them seriously. They can make a huge difference in how you feel about yourself and life. Also, they will help you to walk straight toward your aspirations (no more wobbling).
Dare to expect glorious triumphant results
Yes, it will be checkered with failure… so what?… The raccoon doesn’t consider it a failure when he cannot open my new garbage can lid. He still gets results knocking the barrel around.
Refuse to live in the shade
The shade is where folks hide out who are simply hoping to avoid defeat… The raccoon is bold with his efforts. His goal is to find food. He knows there is no food in the shadows. He welcomes defeat as he ‘oopses’ his way to success.
You are always getting results… only humans define some of it as ‘failure’… how can it be called ‘failure’ if you are always looking to learn something new?
Do you know what matters more than the outcome? Answer: Your experience of the outcome… I notice the raccoon is always adapting his (her) behavior. Sometimes he pounces from the left. Sometimes he pounces from the right. Sometimes he gets on the limb of the tree and drops down onto the barrel lid from above; always getting results of one kind or another… and always with the idea of food in mind.
Drop the idea that ‘success’ means good… and… ‘failure’ means bad.
Society has outsmarted itself by thinking that calling someone a ‘failure’ (implying he’s bad), will motivate that person to succeed. Don’t play that game with yourself… I notice the other raccoon always encourages the barrel assailant… never laughs or makes fun of him when he topples over or skids on his rear… which, by the way… are results. Perhaps not the results he wants but certainly there is something going on.
Learn to love your miss-takes… how else are you to grow?
We evolved out of the dark, damp caves (living with rats) into nice homes (with lights and air conditioning) as a consequence of accumulated failures (offering lessons for advancement)… the raccoon that knocks over my garbage can has fun with his miss-takes. I can see he him laughing. He is looking for food and intends to love the process. If what he does isn’t working- he chortles, looks at the situation with an aim to tweak his behavior, and proceeds with the aim of ‘getting food’.
YES, YES, YES… the raccoon has succeeded at opening the scientifically proven ‘raccoon proof’ lid that I purchased at the local hardware store.
Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Give me the young man (raccoon) who has enough brains to make a fool of himself.”… and I add to that: ‘and I will give you the man (raccoon) who cannot be stopped by life’.
(1) How can you apply this blog to your life?
(2) What can you add to this blog to help your fellow community members?
(3) When have you made a fool of yourself and won?
Comments welcome… I will comment on your comments (as always).
PLEASE NOTE: One winner of the “Best Comment of the Week” will receive an absolutely free copy of 180. This weeks grand prize winner is Angela Artemis from Powered by Intuition. The runner up Farnoosh from Prolific Living. Thank you all for your great contributions. See their comments here here.
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Rob,
The experience of the outcome – I love that thought! When we think that way – it becomes much more about getting out there and creating our experiences – and less about slinking back to avoid failure (and perhaps that’s the biggest failure of all – when we don’t get out there and live what’s in our heart…).
I have some ideas bouncing around in my head this week – and your words here help to move me toward that experience. I can choose to get out there and tip over some “garbage cans”, or I can let the thought pass.
I’m ready to tip over a bunch of the “garbage cans”!!!
I love that, Lance. You are up to ‘tipping over some garbage cans’ and taking it from there. How strange that folks think that answers to their challenges will come without them fully participating in life. Nice comment.
Perhaps many of us don’t understand the nature of our minds. If we somehow become aware that we are the one’s who are preventing us from succeeding we would be able to change our approach to challenges. This is a powerful eye opener Rob.
The nature of the mind is only as mysterious as we assume it is, right Walter? Wherever you go, your mind goes with you – pay attention to how you have trained it to respond to life. If you don’t like what it’s up to – take the time to treat the mind with new opinions and truths. Thank you.
Rob, Thank you for your inspiration in your posts…I have just discovered you recently from The Bold Life. I finally get how powerful our thoughts are~! At long last!! I have limited myself for far too long and it is so much fun now to soar!! Planning exciting trips and doing things spur of the moment and putting myself out there in ways I was too afraid to do before!
It is really FUN!!
Keep encouraging people the way you do!!
all the best to you!
YES, Brenda, your thoughts are awesomely powerful when coming from a full consciousness. When we live our lives from a limited consciousness(being on ‘reactive mode’ half of the time), our thoughts are less effective (one thought will erase another).
Hi Rob, an enthralling post. I do believe this with my whole heart. Life is after all one big experiment. Some days we get the formula down pat, and other days we’ll learn what formula doesn’t produce the results we’re after.
I love the story about the raccoon. He has no qualms about approaching that garbage can from every conceivable angle until he finds his way in. We, on the hand, are too self-conscious about our efforts. We make ourselves feel bad by, as you say, defining what we do as either successes or failures. I think you’re right we need to be playful, and less self-conscious like that raccoon!
You are a contribution to the website (with your comments), Angela. Being more playful (and more spontaneous), can help you realize that the only reason you did not get some of those aspirations and aims (that you desired in your past) was because you were seeking without reckoning with your original nature of ‘knowingness’. More about this matter in future blogs. Thank you.
Oh, I pressed the button too soon! I wanted to say thank you for my comment being named as at top comment. Thanks Rob!
Rob:
I love the incorporation of the raccoon. The snippets help drive each point you make and provide some added entertainment. Simple…Applicable…Brilliant!
We ARE always getting results – even when it feels like we’re pulled in an opposite direction. The obstacles, when overcome, are points in the process that provide a sense of fulfillment and energy. You think, “if I can get past that…then I can do anything”. And you feel unstoppable.
Very great article.
I tell you, you have some of the best illustrations out there. Are you an artist?
-very best regards
Nick Kent is the artist, JK. Yes, he is terrific!!! When we are pulled in opposite directions it is because we have adopted beliefs that point in opposite directions (and those beliefs are cancelling one another out). The problem with this circumstance is obvious – there is no separation between you and your dreams … yes there is separation between you and your dreams … there is no spearation … yes there is separation. WE WAVER – THAT BECOMES THE PROBLEM.
Dear Rob, how wonderful that I am runner up! I don’t remember being “runner up” for anything before – how nice! I know exactly which comment you mention of course.
And thank you for the “raccoon” perspective on success vs. failure. You are always an inspiration, an encouragement and a much-needed second look at the ordinary concepts…..Thank you!
Thanks, Farnoosh … ‘a much needed second look at the ordinary’- great title for a book, Farnoosh – can I use it? You are awakening from psychic sleep as we speak. I am proud of your efforts (and always proud of you as a human being with superlatively creative skills). blessings.
Use it to your heart’s content, dear Rob!
And if I can inspire you to write books simply by suggesting titles, it is indeed a wonderful place for me to be 
!
Take good care and thanks for the encouragement as always!
Rob: Great post. I really like the comparison to the raccoon. Very creative and very inspirational. I particularly liked what you said about not just assuming success is good and failure is bad. It is such a great perspective to have when you recognize that both can work in your favor and help propel you toward where you are trying to go. Thanks for the inspiration and the wisdom I always find here.
Congrats Angela and Farnoosh!
Thank you Sibyl … the difference between us and raccoons is that we are beings with pure consciousness. In other words, we are what we are conscious of. A racoon has no choice but to be conscious of himself instinctively. We can go beyond instincts. What will I do with that? What will you do with that? blessings.
I think we all need to open up our minds. We all need to have more of a positive expectation if we expect to see any positive results in our lives. Without our mind set on great expectations we achieve nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Great post Mr. White!
Thank you jonathan, we train our mind to understand our capacities. T’is a shame to convince the mind that we are less that infinitely unique. blessings.
Hi Rob.
I can’t say I have loved my mistakes before so that is certainly a way to switch things up. They did alert me to my problems so maybe I should like them for that.
I haven’t expected triumphant results in some time so I could switch up on that too. Perspective is an area where we have a lot of control.
Rob brings it differently, with pictures of raccoons as well.
thank you, Armen. How odd it is that human beings can believe that external supplies can replace inner yearnings. This is why there are no failures that are bad – not if we see that they are offering inner good. sound too simple. Practice makes perfect. blessings.
Hi Rob,
Very nice post. I love how you mention that we have to love our “mistakes.” This is so true, if we keep thinking of our mistakes as something that has gone wrong, then we we are not growing. Instead, let us look at “mistakes” as opportunities that can be learned from. Thanks for sharing
Yes, Dia, mistakes (miss-takes) are an opportunity to try again. Like an archer who ‘missed’ his first ‘take’ at hitting the bull’s eye – he aims and does another ‘take’. Eventually – BINGO! thankyou.
Hi Rob,
Sailing teaches me some of my greatest life lessons. The biggest lesson I learned early on is that some people take the helm (wheel) of the boat then become afraid and just “stop”..When at the helm, there isn’t a point ever when you may decide it’s too much and allow Fear to paralyze you..you may die and put others at risk as well. Regardless of what comes up out there, expected or unexpected, you have to be alert and Aware, creative with your response, and as well prepared as possible..The bonus is when I am alert and aware I may see pods of dolphins, a gorgeous sunset…beauty that would be missed had I kept my vision clouded..I may also chooset o always go to the same anchorage because it’s comfortable and what I know, or I may choose different anchorages and experience nature in a new light..All of this translates directly to life. When I learned to captain my boat, then charter for others, I learned to captain my life..Like the raccoon, I enjoy the moment I am in, laugh when applicable, and am highly rewarded with wonder and delight:)
Nice job, adding to the blog, Joy. Your real life example reveals the winning side of you and teaches all of us a great lesson. The person who really wants to give herself (himself) over to higher knowledge – receives it. You do that. thank you for the example.
A gal after my own heart, Joy. Sailing is much like life… hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
Today I joined a choir. It’s a first for me. I set an intention beginning this month to sing without fear. Tension and singing don’t really go together well and I know that I have to be willing to sing the wrong notes in order to get the right ones.
I have a favorite quote by Marianne Williamson which is too long to post here but one line is like a mantra that I repeat daily.
“Your playing small will not serve the world.”
So, I am trying to learn to serve the world by being more like the racoon. I “refuse to live in the shade.”
Thanks Rob!
Well spoken Jenny. ‘Go for the right notes, accept the wrong ones, knowing the wrong ones will eventually take you to the right ones’. I love your courage to get out there and sing your heart out. Real happiness is having the courage to sing your heart out even with the wrong notes! blessings.
Whoa… never thought I have something to learn from Raccoons. Ha ha! What about mice? I have plenty of them… they are pretty persistent too. But seriously, I think if there is one thing I can thank my father for it is for teaching me persistence. I remember him fiddling with our lawn mower for hours and hours one day and finally got it started. For some reason I carry that image with me today.
Mice, lawn mowers and raccoons – we never know where the next answser is coming from, Roger.
Hi Rob,
One thing that I think really helps create success is the awareness that change is a good thing. People often run away from change and I think change should be embraced with open arms. The Earth is constantly in motion and so are we.
In order to become a success, we need to grow and that means moving forward. We learn from our experiences. No one is born wise…we earn that and sometimes we earn that when we have fallen on our face. So we just need to pick ourselves up and keep on going. To remain stagnant is a waste of time and human potential.
Yes, Nadia, the planet is always moving in myriad ways, and so should we. We are either growing or digressing. I prefer the growth-choice. We gain wisdom with experience (not sitting and comtemplating). Actualizing our potential is what it is all about- and that takes creating higher aspirations rather than sitting around and thinking about it. thank you
Great point Nadia. We can only become wise with experience. If we are not failing we are not growing. I think people have so much fear of failing they never even try. I’ve learned to see my failures as stepping stones… and I think I’m doing OK!
I love this, Rob! We can be unstoppable like that raccoon that one-upped the manufacturers of the high-priced raccoon-proof lid. I love that this happened to you because only you could’ve turned this into a timeless life lesson.
I do see life as an ongoing journey of experiences instead of the flat-dimensional succeeding/failing duality. There is so much more to life than getting hung up on a momentary bump in the road that some of us call “failure”. Why wallow in the woe-is-me swamp when we can keep going; admire the vista from various vantage points and maybe even soar in the skies once in a while? Thanks to people like you, this type of limited thinking is getting nipped in the bud.
I love your description … ‘flat dimensional succeed/fail duality’. Nice take! You write well. Your insights are deep. They help others learn about themselves. What a gift. We contact truth at the risk of losing our treasured false beliefs, don’t we, Belinda. Thank you.
Thats what I like about observing nature too, Belinda. My cat never sees failure, he just picks himself up and goes right back at it. Humans get shy and embarrassed and quit after one failure. Animals have their own weird way of getting beyond “limited thinking.”
Rob,
Life has been so crazy busy, I am finally getting around to blogworld life.
I know we have sort of talked about Miss-takes in life and zig-zag path to finding the final destination. Without the miss-takes we will not learn new things and new ways of finding solution. I love raccoon example but then again all animals and birds are amazingly smart!
Yup, thats what I was thinking too. Nature has so much to teach us if we just pay attention. I definitely felt like that Raccoon when I started out in the music business. I was stumbling my way through everything. I had to learn not to be afraid to ask the simplest of questions and get over my fear of sounding stupid. Turns out people are HAPPY to answer those questions and sincerely want to support your success. That was a revelation for me. No I get to be the cagey veteran that can help other out along the way… and I like doing it
Birds and animals are amazingly smart, Preeti, because they naturally trust the infinite intelligence that guides them. Human beings can be incredibly ignorant because we deny that intelligence access to our consciousness when we begin to think we know it all. Hmmm. Blessings.
So very true Rob that success is seen as good and failure as bad. But failure is merely work in progress and in need of fine tuning. A la Edison with his 10,000 ways things didn’t work rather than umpteen failures. Like most lives. We are merely sharpening our own diamonds. It doesn’t all matter anyway as the Raccoon knows – it’s just garbage so why worry?
I love this. We have to be willing to make a fool of ourselves if we are going to make anything. I once heard that being a great actor requires being willing to make a fool of yourself. I can see where this is true for doing anything that goes beyond our comfort zones. Like John points out, Edison had 10,000 failures – I’m sure he didn’t worry about feeling embarrassed. Why worry, indeed.
Nice job, John. You spoke your mind with clarity. ‘stinkin thinkin’ is all garbage for sure. Giving meaningful purpose to what we do makes it all ‘sunken treasures’ waiting to be raised into our experiences. blessings.
Rob,
You really hit the nail on the head with the society based defintions of failure, success, good and bad. I would say my entire career up until a year ago would be classified as a giant failure based on those rules. All I can say, is THANK GOD for that massive failure. It’s because of that I’m on the track to living a life far greater than I ever imagined possible. Sometime in November after a 6 month job search, I found a job doing sales for some search engine company. I hated it so much that I quit after two weeks, and wrote a blog post about it. People thought I had lost my mind. The rest is the story you’ve been following since we have connected online
. Sometimes making a fool of yourself comes with a very happy ending(not that kind for all of you with your mind in the gutter).
YES, Srinivas, sometimes what some call ‘making a fool of ourselves’ is exactly what it takes to have the breakthrough that we are looking for. Copernicus made a fool of himself(according to society) when he redefined astronomy. The Wright brothers made a fool of themselves(according to society) as they invented the heavier-than-air flying machine … and on and on. thank you
I love that perspective Srinivas. I was layed off almost 2 years ago and am still struggling to get my out of the gutter. Some days are better than others. What I’m learning is that it all depends on perspective and not being a victim. Raccoons still make me angry though.