When I was in midst of editing Dancing the Tightrope, someone told me to hang on to the many stories that were landing on the cutting room floor. "Just because it didn't belong in the book doesn't mean it's not a story worth telling," they said. The following story is one of those that didn't make the cut. We pick up the action when I have been talking about the distinction between obsessing over mistakes in search of perfection versus using the process of recovery to bring me back to balance. Now my mind stays clear under pressure - most of the time. With every error, I have the choice to agonize over the lack of perfection or relish the space of constantly assessing, recalibrating, and correcting. Agonizing over things not being perfect is a form of emotional abuse heaped upon my head by me. Mind chatter that sounds like a picky mom, overheated football coach or snarky friend takes me away from being able to deal with the problem in front of me. Instead, it fills me with the shame of not being enough. It doesn't have to be that way. If I can heap emotional abuse on myself, I can also heap emotional support on myself. Being out of balance and totally imperfect is the catalyst for movement and growth and life and joy. It's possible to stay with the pressure and chaos when mind chatter fades into the background. Choosing to relish this non-perfect, slightly out of ...