After a mistake

After a mistake. This track is for the hour after you got something wrong. At work, at home, with someone you care about. The mistake is real, and the mind has already started on you.

Sit or stand, wherever you are. Eyes open or closed.

One long breath out.

First, the fact. Say what happened, in one plain sentence, in your head. I sent the wrong file. I shouted. I forgot. Only the fact, the way a fair witness would say it.

Notice how much the mind wants to add. Stupid, again, typical. Those are not facts. They are the attack. Let them go past, and come back to the one plain sentence.

Now the feeling. There is probably heat in the face, or a sinking in the stomach, or both. That is shame, or fear, and it is the body's normal response to getting something wrong in front of others. Uncomfortable, and not dangerous.

Breathe around it. Out, long and slow.

Again.

Put a hand on the chest if that helps. The way you would for a friend.

Now the next step. Not the whole repair. Only the next thing. An apology. A corrected file. Telling the person before they find out. Or, if nothing can be done tonight, deciding what you say in the morning.

Choose it.

If the mind says the mistake proves something about you, notice that it is doing the attack again. A mistake is a thing that happened. It is not the whole story of who you are.

The fact. The feeling. The next step.

One more long breath out.

Open your eyes if they were closed. Go and do the next step, or rest until it is time to.

If you are in danger or feel you cannot keep yourself safe, call your Weave clinician, or Tele-MANAS on one four four one six, any time.