Cultivating A Beginner's Mind
Sunday Stoic Reflections
Life is a series of ongoing humiliations — one after another. On the path, you will accumulate hundreds, if not thousands of failed experiments — a master’s journey in beginning again.
Unfortunately, most of us avoid failure like the plague. It’s ingrained in us from an early age. Failing can be humiliating, a sign of incompetence and ignorance.
When you break it down, humiliation is derived from the Latin word, humus, which translates to Earth or ground.
This can be a powerful reframing of how we perceive our relationship with humility.
The more you fail, and fail forward, stumbling into situations others might deem humiliating, remember, you’re just returning to your grounded being.
It’s a practice we all have the potential to develop — the subtle art of beginning again.
Hum·us
1. Earth or ground — returning to your grounded being.
2. A tasty spread made from chickpeas, served at your local Middle-Eastern restaurant.
Example in a sentence: Life is a dish served better with a side of humus!
In my novice study of Eastern philosophy, I stumbled on a concept known as Shōshin.
A concept in Zen which means beginner’s mind.
Failure is not fatal. In that special spotlight of vulnerability, is your gift. An opportunity to get up. Rise from the ground, dust yourself off, and move forward.
Always remember, keep your head down in success, and your head up in failure.
Cultivate openness, vulnerability, self-discipline and the courage to look in the mirror and accept responsibility. It’s the perfect opportunity to come back to the drawing board, devise a plan and execute it.
Shō·shin
beginner’s mind — A concept from zen.
To close I thought I’d share another edition of Mamba Memories — a brief tale about one of the great closers of the modern era, Kobe Bryant.
It was the 1997 Western Conference Semi-finals with the first seed, Utah Jazz, playing the fourth seed, Los Angeles Lakers. The first year of the Kobe and Shaq era.
After an up-and-down rookie season, Kobe had his first opportunity to show his greatness and establish himself as a legend in the making.
The result? A colossal failure. Kobe shot 4 airballs in the closing minutes of an overtime elimination game. The Lakers lost the series, and Kobe walked off the court after accomplishing the first, humiliating failure of his career.
The lesson? That was the first step in his journey. We know how the story ends. Twenty years of hard work and discipline resulted in multiple championships, accolades and a remarkable career.
So good luck to you, in your pursuit. Chase your first and biggest failure. Fail forward. Embrace your return to the ground and start again with a beginner’s mind.
If you stay on the path with passion, do the right work, take responsibility, stay disciplined and continue to put one foot in front of the other, you can emerge victorious in the one realm you must master — your mind.
Thanks for reading.
Much love.
SG
Build. Understand. Discipline. Stillness. “B.U.D.S” is written by me, Dr. Shawn Gill - I’m a pharmacist and Father of two boys. During the day, I work as a deprescribing pharmacist, helping patients get off drugs, safely and effectively. At night, I write this newsletter. B.U.D.S is a community that's focused on inspiring individuals to take account of their health and wellness, as well as reverse mental health and chronic disease. If you’d like to support this mission, please subscribe below. Much love. SG
