Bram Levinson

We fuck up.

This little nugget of insight might seem childishly obvious, but for some reason it’s also the little nugget that instigates the most destructive thought patterns and behaviours in us mere mortals.

I’m a thinker and an observer, and I live my life looking through a philosophical lens. The by-product of doing so is that I tend to pay less attention to the tiny mistakes we all seem to make and more to the energy of the one making the mistake. Energy and intention are the lighthouses whose beacons convey the relevant information to me, and so when someone messes up and I’m affected by it, I’m hesitant to get caught up in reprimanding and blame and more apt to know the essence of the doer so I can stay in action vs reaction.

Working in yoga allows me to study ancient scriptures and texts whose teachings are as relevant today as they perhaps were at the time of their inception, but there’s a shadow side to working with concepts and ideals that have the potential to be sermonized. It’s great to remind people to practice non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-hoarding, etc… , but by doing so we, as teachers and leaders, run the risk of insinuating that we are perfectly moral examples of how to live our lives and creating the false sense of our own idolatry. Politicians are the most extreme example of this situation: they spout ideals as to how we should behave and in which values we should place importance, and we believe that if they’re encouraging such grandiose virtues, they must be walking the walk themselves. Cut to the sex scandals, the financial scandals, the drug scandals.

We ALL fuck up. We prioritize sheen and gloss and post it all over whatever outlets allow us to promote our fabulousness, and we relegate our fears, vices, quirks and shame to the realm of shadow. And in doing so, we totally miss the mark and waste the time we have in this life.

We all end up harming something or someone. Every single one of us has monopolized time away from someone else, and in doing so is guilty of theft. Every single one of us has lied. In the past 24 hours. Every single one of us.

You fuck up. So do I. Own it. Share it. Laugh about it and celebrate it. Understand that the universe will continue to provide you with the opportunity to fuck up so you can finally see the end in the beginning and eventually choose to NOT fuck up. Until then, you’ll be given that moment again and again and will potentially fuck up again and again. The universe doesn’t measure success on how much comfort or cash you have, it does so based on how much you’ve learned, so pay attention and learn from your fuck-ups. They’re simply moments to potentially learn from and evolve spiritually and emotionally.

Stop letting your fuck-ups open the door to shame, doubt and fear and start seeing them as the gateway to finally making better, more deliberate decisions for yourself and the world around you. Stop making everyone else pay for their fuck-ups and life lessons. We are all doing our best, so let’s see THAT through a philosophical lens and stop taking everything so personally.

It’s time to no longer waste time.

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2 Responses

  1. Hi Bram,..I also see life from the lens of a philosopher. interested in ancient and current philosophical musings I can often miss the practical aspect of mistakes of others because i see the energy and intention of the suffering soul. I am hardest on myself Halina

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