What Would You Do If You Knew You Couldn't Fail?

Today is my 67th birthday and I'm inviting you to celebrate with me. Who knows how many more birthdays I, or any of us, will have? I hope to be around for many more, but just in case I'm not, tonight, I'm going to get all dressed up, don a tiara, put on my high heeled shoes, and go dancing. And you're invited to join me!

While we're on the subject of dancing, in last week's article, When The Shift Hits The Fan, I suggested that navigating these perilous times is akin to "dancing on a tightrope, wearing high heels, going backwards." That image struck home with several readers, so I thought I'd share its origins.

Many years ago, I had an important dream. In it, I was walking on a tightrope, wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase, and wearing high heels.

As the dream unfolds, I'm watching myself from an enlightened observer's viewpoint; I'm cautiously making my way along the tightrope, every muscle tensed. My concentration is like a laser beam, every step carefully placed. Falling would bring certain death. There is no net.

At least not one that I can see. But just beneath the tightrope, out of my view, for as far as the eye can see, are angel wings. The wings are so close they almost brush up against the tightrope. But I'm so focused on not falling, I cannot see them. I'm blinded by my fear of falling.

Then my own observer voice in the dream whispers, "Look how hard she's working to keep from falling. What a pity she doesn't know she's safe. Someone should tell her."

Then I wake up and realize the dream's message:

"No matter how complicated and difficult the dance on the tightrope may seem, remember, Love is always present. There is nothing to fear. You cannot fall. Rest in this Love."

This message is ancient, the basis of religions and theme of the great works of art. But the power of this dream was in being shown that the "I", I call "me", is not separate from this Love. This great, universal Love is not only always present, it's who we are. It's who I am. It's who you are.

I had an artist friend make a drawing of the dream so I could hold on to the image. I still keep it in my bedroom where I see it every day. It's such a great reminder of this one eternal truth: Love Is.

How easily this awareness gets lost as we take up the trek on the tightrope! We work so hard to keep from falling, we fail to see the truths right in front of us.

Here's a little something to gnosh on:

What if we're really angels who've taken on physical bodies and wear funny costumes to hide our wings so no one will know who we are? And what if the density of our bodies and the weight of our costumes has made us forget we have these wings and an indwelling spirit whose nature is to soar?

Maybe we've forgotten we came here to let these wings lift our spirits and dance our lives. And maybe, all we need is just a little nudge to remind us to remove the costumes, unfold our wings and go for it.

Consider an event that happened recently at the Liverpool Street Station, in London. It could be considered a little cosmic nudge:

Telecom giant, T-Mobile, chose this location in the UK as the backdrop for a new advertisement, filmed during rush hour. It took 8 weeks of planning, 8 sound tracks of 60s thru 90s music, 10,000 people who auditioned, 400 people chosen, 10 hidden cameras, and a terminal full of unsuspecting commuters... some of whom obviously missed their trains! Watch this, it's amazing!:

And here's the reaction from some of those unsuspecting commuters who got caught up in the action:

What happened here? Yes, this was a commercial venture and not a spontaneous event. But something else took flight during those 161 seconds of filming. For those brief moments, you could see people lay down the burden of the trek on the tightrope and take up the dance. Maybe it was just a tiny glimpse of what's possible.

The Dance Is Always There

The funny thing is, like Love, the dance is always there inside these costumes, waiting to be set free. You could see people's faces being lit up, like drinking from the well of remembrance of who they are and why they're here. We need daily doses of this remembrance.

And what about you? What if you knew you could not fall? What dance would you be dancing right now in your life? And what are you waiting for?

Maybe you're waiting for your dance to show up and make itself known. But what if the way it really is, is the dance is already here waiting for you to step up to it? What if you, saying "yes" to the dance of your life, is the very spark that inspires others to take up their dance?

What if we laid down the weapons of war and put on our dancing shoes instead? That might sound silly or far fetched. I'm just saying...what if? Who's in charge of whether you dance or wage war in your own life? Think about that the next time you find yourself trying hard not to fall. What if you just danced instead?

Many people who left comments on You Tube expressed a desire that life could have more moments like the one that took place at the Liverpool Street Station. I suggest it can.

Maybe you don't bust into dancing in public with strangers, but then again, why not? If you were in the station that day, would you have joined in the dance? Or would you have stood off to the side and watched? Some people, afraid to miss their trains, scurried through the station and missed the moment completely.

Amidst the struggle and the turmoil of these times, let us not forget the wings hidden in the uniforms we wear. Make time to unfold them and dance for your life. There will always be trains to catch, clocks and calendars and cell phones to pull us back to the tightrope. But please, don't miss the dance that's waiting for you.

Dance it, before your wings shrivel up and there's nothing left to dance for.

I want to thank a frequent visitor here, frepstein, for sending me the link to the videos posted in this article.

Some of my best ideas for articles have come from readers. So thanks to those who have taken the time to email links you find inspiring or interesting to share here with others. It's all part of the dance we do together and the community we're building here, so I welcome your input.

Feel free to share links and ideas with me at: [e-mail], or you can leave shorter comments here in the Post A Comment section below this article. I endeavor to respond as much as possible, so be sure to check back after you've left a comment. Thanks also for sharing this article with your own community of tightrope walkers.

I'll be looking for you on the dance floor out there. Til next time, keep dancing!

Comments

[manahan27]

Happy birthday!!!! Thank you for sharing your dream. I to have been thinking about this same thing. However when I don't want to participate in the gossip at work over the ways of the world, people call me weird. I just smile and walk away then they try to psycho analyze why I smiled. I am glad someone else shares the view point of keeping a cool head about things. Pure love is the song of the soul that keeps us dancing so here is to 67 more years. In the words of doctor Spock live long and continue to prosper...

[marirose]

What?!? "Before this link is taken down...." No, I don't want it taken down. It's too inspiring in these difficult times. To TPTB, pls leave this wonderful blog and the T-Mobile link of Liverpool Station up for as long as we all need to be inspired, ie, forever. Thnx.

[Promise]

Thanks for the inspiring column! You sure look good for 67---it must be all that dancing!

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Hello Everyone,

Before this link is taken down, I just want to go on the record and thank all the readers who've stopped by to leave comments and wish me a happy birthday.

It was a wonderful birthday for 1000 reasons, not the least of which is learning the lesson of receiving. Maybe it's a hard one for some of you, I know it is for me. But you've given me so many blessings, I'm still ghashing on them and will be for some time.

Love and blessings back to all of you,
Judith

[Jennifer Gonzaga]

Happy (belated) birthday Judith!! What a wonderful post... truly inspiring which is exactly who you ARE! Sending love always...

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, Jenn!

Sending love right back to you!

Judith

[lovelivelaugh14]

Happy Birthday! This was such a wonderful read. Thanks for the inspiration--time to dream up a new dream.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Well, I don't know..... Love Live Laugh sounds pretty good to me! I'd go for that one anyday!

Hope your dreams come true! Keep us posted, will you?

Blessings,
Judith

[Yurdelite]

February 18 is my deceased Mom's birthday. I was feeling sad but this made me feel really good. I was sitting at the computer dancing right along with the crowd!

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Well Yurdelite, I'm so glad this post showed up on your mom's birthday and make your spirit a bit lighter. She probably instigated the whole thing! What do you think?

Love,
Judith

[tryharder2think]

OMG - Happy Birthday - this made me smile and tear are running out of my eyes...

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey tryharder2think,

Maybe you should try less hard to think sometimes. Give that poor brain a rest and let those feet dance once in awhile!

Thanks for the birthday greeting. I'm still basking.......

Blessings,
Judith

[timezone]

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. JUDITH!! I loved your article and the title is particularly wonderful. I think so often inertia sets in and once we start to THINK about doing something (going back to school, learning a new language, etc., etc., etc.), we start to think about all the reasons why we shouldn't bother or that there is ALWAYS tomorrow. If Einstein, Dr. Salk, or President Obama had all just given in to waiting for tomorrow.......

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, timezone!

Indeed, the old "I'm not ready" syndrome is so easy to fall into. How do we ever get ready to go for it except by just "going for it"?

So what would YOU do if you knew you couldn't fail? What door would you open and step through?
Seriously, think about it, and then ask yourself, what are you waiting for?

I'm in this question for myself and I know the answer is to get off my duff and write the book that's been in me to write forever. So I'm on this "watch" for me as well as for you. I'm long overdue.

Will you help keep my feet to the fire? We all need one another. We're a village here, you know.

Thanks for being part of this tribe! Love and blessings,
Judith

[timezone]

Well, Dr. Judith, working on a screenplay and getting better in French and Spanish! I'm great at picking up the torch, but it's running the distance. It's inertia and procrastination, not fear, that I battle!

I know how hard it is to commit to a certain time or a certain number of pages a day. I even have it written on my mirror with magic marker (WRITE!!!)

I'm sure you're better at fighting those demons than I am, but I keep working on it.

[exoevolution]

Thanks so much for "this remembrance"!!

Have a GREAT BIRTHDAY!!

[inorbit]

What would I do if I could not fail???

Start a huge dance in a train station!!!!!!!!

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

No kidding! Check out the links sent by commenter chaucea on this page. They're inspiring!

Best to you,
Judith

[MED1025]

Its a good thought to get out of bed with. What could you do today if you knew you could not fail. Great post.

[keeplookin]

I've been looking at and experiencing art for over 20 years now, and the best I've seen has all been when the artists completely opened themselves up and channelled it out to their target audiences. They talked not about, "I did this", but rather that they opened themselves up inside and totally let go and let the art flow.

I ran a good movie idea by a young black drummer from Brooklyn one summer in the woods of Pennsylvania, and I voiced a concern that this multi-ethnic composition might cause trouble if the audience got too rowdy in the theater while viewing it.

His reply?

"HIT 'em with it!"

Said it all.

There's a difference between 100% and ANYTHING else.

You'll get way more miracles from that 100% than anything else.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

I so agree with you! 100% is on the mark.

I used to think 99% was good enough. I settled for 99% but then wondered why I never felt a sense of completion. Whatever lies in that 1% between 99 and 100 is the whole game. Discovering what's in the 1% is worth discovering.

Some people fear failure, but others fear success just as much. Ahhhhh, I feel another blog topic sprouting out of this comment. Stay tuned, there's gold in these hills.........

Thanks for sparking a new topic!
Judith

[texastrixie]

What would I do if I could not fail? Create a nutrious food source that everyone adored, that was inexpensive and a snap to grow or produce anywhere, and once eaten, the body only absorbed the nutrients and calories needed for heath - no extra fat.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Be sure to let us all know when you've got this ready for market, Texastrixie!

I'll be your first customer.

On second thought, it kind of sounds like seaweed or algae. We'll probably all end up eating that way some day and I know some people already do.

Back to the lab,
Judith

[flymic]

I second both of your sentiments.

Some may confuse the roud to 100% as an unattainable goal that ,if even met, can not be maintained everyday.

To me that last 1% does not require the addition of effort or hard headedness. its found by an extreme level of relaxation-- the kind that , at first at least, can be disturbed easily but is consistantly attainable if in the right mindset. Lets all be relaxed together and maintain allow the world to see our perfection.

happy belated b-day.

[Dukedraven]

Happy Birthday, Dr, Judith. Since I hung up my dancing shoes, I'll dance with you in spirit. You're right, love is the essence of who we are. However, I believe that angels and human souls are separate entities, but I understand your point. Peace, love, light and joy always

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Many thanks, dukedraven!

Someone one said, "We are spiritual beings, having a human experience". That's how I see it.

We are here, in these bodies, learning to be human and forgetting that our essence is of the spirit. I love that image and it's a great reminder, at least for me.

Best to you,
Judith

[marirose]

That quote is from Teilhard de Chardin. Great blog & great link to the dance....My sentiments exactly. Blessings on you birthday!