When I finally reached the end of the meadow, I followed a smooth path along a row of trees, which stood tall and majestic, emanating a deep sense of power, which inspired me to want to hold on to Vinny’s ideal of positive thinking, even though it was an ideal I felt unable to meet.
I was surprised to discover a small signpost, which had been carefully placed at a junction. Both directions were signified by an inscription on this signpost.
One direction pointed across another meadow and read ‘More of the same’. This didn’t seem to be particularly enticing.
The other sign read ‘Climb high; climb far. Your goal the sky’ indicating a steep climb.
The thought of being up high again excited me. I was accustomed to life in trees looking at wonderful views, not spending so much time on the ground as I was on my journey. It was an easy choice to make.
The climb proved to be long and fairly steep. At first I enjoyed the physical effort as it focused my thoughts on the present, surprisingly giving me a sense of momentary peace.
As I progressed my sense of excitement and expectancy grew until it peaked on reaching the top of the hill.
I pulled myself up and over the brow and saw a huge clearing in front of me.
A loud chirp sounded from nearby. I looked up to see a robin perched on the delicate branch of a tree. Beneath the bird, crowds of creatures had gathered to listen.
The robin thrust out his red chest, “You can do anything you put your mind to! You have amazing power – focus your mind!” He paused, as he slipped into a trance-like state. The robin then thrust his beak down at unbelievable speed onto the branch snapping it in one amazing blow.
The branch hit the earth and the crowd of animals gawked and gasped their amazement. I also had to stifle a shocked cry. I stared at the robin in astonishment. Energy pulsated off the bird. Everyone was in awe of him.
He was certainly creating a sense of incredible vitality and positivity. I joined the crowd and whispered to the nearest creature, a mouse, “Who is this bird?”
“He calls himself ‘Robin’,” the mouse replied, shifting his eyes between me and the bird. My initial thought being he must be incredibly self-assured to call himself ‘Robin’ when is a robin.
Robin suddenly swooped, diving and flying straight towards the trunk of a tree. I nearly cried out at the suicidal stunt fearing a fatal collision. Then at the last moment the robin changed direction, arcing in an impressive display of agility before he flew back to his branch.
The crowd was intoxicated. I could also see how he had developed his unbelievable self-confidence. I found myself drawn in. This was what I was looking for. The answer to all my problems. I would be able to be anything I wanted to be!
In the following days, I learnt first to break twigs and then small branches, just by focusing my attention.
Other creatures, such as voles like you Milo, learnt to climb trees, mastering techniques to climb higher and higher. Climbing wasn’t something I needed to practise being a squirrel!
From these branches, we could all see far into the distance over the hills and rivers. We were encouraged to set huge goals to inspire us to find our power. I was flooded with enthusiasm and excitement when setting my goals.
I also met some, inspiring individuals. There was a vole who, on being caught by an owl, struggled loose and fell from a great height leaving him with terrible injuries barely able to walk. Through self belief and training, not only was he walking, but achieving great physical feats. It was incredibly motivating to be around these amazing creatures.
But as the days passed, I found myself unable to achieve my goals, most of which related to how I felt, and so my spirits lowered.
I returned to the clearing to be inspired again by Robin, but even his motivation was short-lived.
I didn’t want to repeat my previous mistakes. It had taken months with Sig before moving on from the tunnels and then weeks with Vinny before continuing on my journey.
That’s why this time it took less time to realise it wasn’t working. There was so much emphasis on success that I found myself continually comparing myself to others and more importantly to my vision of where I wanted to be.
At this point Milo interjected, “I remember you telling me, ‘Success is not where you are in the moment but it is in the direction that you are moving’. Is this when you learnt about this idea?”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until later on in my journey that I learnt to take a different view regarding success. However, it was the reason why I decided to leave.
So I set off over the brow of the hill taking a different path down. I felt like a failure, disillusioned after once again thinking I’d found the answer. Hope had raised me up on the top of the hill and now my self-esteem and spirits plummeted on the way down. I spent the next few days dwelling on my lack of success and I began to realise that I was looking for something more internal and less easy to measure on the outside by results.