Are You Giving Yourself a Fair Trial?

A Couple of Weeks Ago I Was Called for Jury Duty

It’s a long process of waiting to see if you’ll be selected to be on a jury. And they ask you a lot questions because they want to be sure that you can be fair to both sides.

I wasn’t selected, and I can see why.

How can I be fair to someone else when I can’t even be fair to myself?

One Mistake, and I Punish Myself

For example, once I forgot to check the oil in my car and destroyed the engine driving across the desert. Boy was that stupid! I immediately went into anger and self-blame.

But what happened to the trial? Don’t I get a fair trial like anyone else?

Unfortunately, I don’t. Not when my crazy mind is in power. “Innocent until proven guilty” is out the window in this dictatorship.

But The Work Allows Me to Get a Fair Trial

That’s why I like The Work.

Now don’t get me wrong. A trial is a trial. And it comes with its own form of tension. Sometimes, I’d rather just skip doing The Work.

But when I consider the alternative, which is straight self-punishment with no appeal, I find that The Work is a process worth going through. And that’s why I take the time to do it.

The Four Questions and Turnarounds of The Work Are Like a Fair Court of Law

When I do The Work, I consider all the evidence. Both sides, all sides, of the story. I even consider the innocent side of me that is present in any situation.

For example, I did forget to check the oil. Actually, I remembered, but decided not to worry about it. So I’m guilty there.

But I’m also innocent. Because I had a lot on my plate. I was moving, and checking the oil didn’t seem like a priority at the time. I was also innocent in that I had never run out of oil before, so it was not in my awareness that much.

It was both an innocent mistake, and totally my fault.

For me, That’s a Fair Trial

In fact, I think doing The Work gives me a fairer trial than any court of law ever could. Because I get to come away each time I do The Work with two verdicts simultaneously: guilty and not guilty.

I can rest in that. When I see that I’m both guilty and innocent. Then I can own my own mistakes without beating myself up.

It feels like a very fair trial where all sides always win. That, for me, is justice. And that’s why I like The Work.

Become a Premium Client and do The Work with me once or twice a month.

Have a great weekend,
Todd

“What I love about The Work is that it allows you to go inside and find your own happiness, to experience what already exists within you, unchanging, immovable, ever-present, ever-waiting.” — Byron Katie, Loving What Is, p. 1.

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