Exercises - Decision-Fear-Experiment

Excerpt from "Reporting" Tuesday Night Talks
(audience participation in parenthesis)

Most of us get so we are concerned about making a decision. You know there are choices to make from here to there. The misconception is that if I were clear enough I'd know how to do it immediately. Right Jerry?

You don't get it done that way, but you punch the buttons on the computer and see what it has to say-maybe it'll make the decision. So, in the meantime, you're a little concerned.

Now, the usual way that can be used to make a decision is to gain as much data available as possible. Now if there isn't any data, you don't make a decision, you run an experiment. Now those we can all get caught in. In an experiment one has to be absolutely free to fizzle-fail.

Now the first rule that comes along if you're interested in being successful at anything-whether it was being a healer or being spiritually evolved or making millions of dollars is to be free to fail-because if you're not free to fail, you can't function. You're trying to find all the ways to be safe; and I can think of nothing that anyone can do that doesn't involve some risk. If you're not free to fail, there is no possibility of functioning.

So if we're free to fail, free to go broke-whatever the case may be-then you're can function.

Now if a man was going to invent something, he could never work on it unless he was free to have a bunch of experiments that wouldn't work, is that right Gary?

(I think you'd be careful of what you started out with.)

Yes, you keep backing up until you don't start anything. Gary told me one time that he was working a computer program, but it went over the side of the page and there was no place to go. So that one was a failure, is that right?

So, we can all say if we want to succeed at whatever we're doing, (and it doesn't matter whether it is painting a picture, or writing a story, or making a lot of money, or inventing something, or running a business of some sort or other) the first necessity is that you're free to fail-then you're free to go ahead and do it. But if you're not free to fail, you'd have to take so many precautions, you'll never get started.

Now I heard of a man who wasn't free to have any discomfort occur to him, so he went out and put himself in the middle and began to build a tower. So he kept building it up and building it up and he could see that danger could still come from above so he finally completely enclosed it over as a dome on top. He had lots of bricks and mortar inside. He completely closed it over. Now he couldn't have any doors or windows in this thing because danger could come through those. So, of course, when he got it all sealed up, you can imagine that very shortly he used up all the air in there and he smothered.

Now if you are not free to take a risk, there is very little chance of you--and to take a risk means you have a possibility of failing, is that right? So there's very little chance of doing anything of profit, because profit is what you get paid for taking a risk, basically.

Have you ever tried to be real safe, Debbie?

(Yes.)

………and be sure that you didn't gain a pound, and you didn't do this and you didn't do that, and what happened? You got very anxious, didn't you. So the source of anxiety is basically the intent to be non-disturbed, is it not?

Whenever you start thinking about that you are going to avoid any possibility of failure or fizzle, what happens to you.

(I get anxious.)

You get very anxious which is commonly called being in the pit.

Some lovely lady called me the other day and allowed she was in the pit. I told her I had the pit leased out and she was trespassing in there; and to get out of there because she was in my way. I got it all leased out.

Then there was a guy from Arizona said he was in the sub-pit-not just the pit but the sub-pit.

I said, "Well, why don't you order a sauna so you can be comfortable in there."

Anytime you're in the pit it's because you are afraid of taking a risk. Now a man called me a little while ago just before we started and said he was in a state of fear at something he was doing. So he was going to quit because he didn't want to be fearful-that was a bad thing to have.

Well, now did any of you just deliberately feel free to be fearful this week. I think we talked about that last week. Debbie, did you feel fearful? And what happened?

(Well, it went away.)

It said "to hell with you, you won't run." So you see it really isn't any great horror that if one feels a little fear. But somewhere or other we have become very fearful of feeling fearful; and we get very angry about feeling angry, and we get very resentful about feeling a little resentment.

Now if you're free to feel those things, what happened Debbie?

(It went away)

The whole thing. And it hasn't come back anymore?

(No, I would feel it at other times, but I let myself feel it.)

For the first time in your life, you decided you were a big girl and perfectly all right to feel those; and they weren't going to kill you or destroy you or wrinkle your face, or anything of the sort, is that right? And all of a sudden instead of being fearful, as soon as you were free to feel fearful, you felt very serene, is that right?
But you know we fight fear. Some of us eat. Some of us drink. Some of us smoke. Some of us do other things to keep to keep from feeling fearful.

Did you ever feel fearful Robbie? It didn't kill you did it? It didn't even leave a wrinkle on you, did it?

Did you ever feel fearful?

(All the time.)

What have you been doing about it?

(………..couldn't hear response………..)

Are you perfectly free to feel fearful? So let's start right now. You felt it even though you were fighting it. So if you're going to feel it, you might as well do it gracefully and politely.

You see the first thing when we feel a little touch of fear we say, "How'm I gonna get rid of it right now!"--like it was the plague. It really won't hurt you. It really doesn't do a thing to you.

Have you ever been disappointed? It didn't kill you all these years, you're still functioning, is that right. So if you're free to be disappointed, why it's all right. Is that right Ronnie or have you ever been free to be anything?

(Laughter.)

You ever been free to have any feeling you had. I mean the ones that kind of let you know you really have an emotion-not the feeling ones you purr with. You've been totally resisting them every minute.

Vivo does a very good job of occupying the sub-pit. I got a tentative leaser for it next week. If I get it leased out, you better not get in there.

When you want to do anything (and you haven't done it before) there's apt to be a feeling of fear. Now a lot of people come along and act like you do. They say, "Well how do I make a statement and be sure it's gonna be true?"

Well, if you're perfectly free to fizzle it will work all right.