Failure happens. It happened then, it happened now–I am not surprised. I saw it coming, even, in the way I thought, in how I ended up so twisted into a cycle of unraveling perceptions, all false, all poison. It is not that I failed that is what disturbs me, but the mechanism–how easy it was. I have done wrong enough times in the past. I have wronged myself. But I would have thought that after so long, after beginning this journey over a year ago, I would at least be strong enough to face these things as they are, to surpass them and, ideally, never let them into the precious realm of my mind ever again. But that has not happened. And I feel like I am no different from back then. Motion, I felt motion, but a boat can be tied at anchor and yet go in circles by the wind or the currents. Was it false motion? Was all of this an illusion of transformation, or have I grown? It is not an easy thing to answer.

If there is one thing I do know, however, it is this: that I must go forward. It matters little what happened. It matters a lot more what I do about it. I am of the fir belief that I have all that is necessary to succeed. Within me is a potential that makes all these trials seem petty. What I must do is access it, then, and achieve a greater level of being. And that is what moving forward is all about: reaching into oneself, taking hold of that power, and finding the courage to not give up and to not let the old ways reassert themselves. I am better than that. You are better than that. We all are.

So if you are feeling discouraged by a setback, but a personal mistake or failure, do not despair. It is human, and it is life. Focus more on what you do now: to cut that anchor, to set the sail, and the truly move.

Keep going.