May I? Can I? Should I?

    Several years ago I took a great class from Peaceful Meadow Retreat. The Hanna Kroeger 1 class taught me two very important things. The first was that it was not for me. I loved the class, but it was not at all what my clients come to see me for. They come for peace, not for supplements. The second is three simple questions that changed my practice and how I approach life.
     May I? Can I? Should I?
     Who knew that six words could be so profound?
     Let's consider our first question 'may I?' When you ask yourself this, it is all about permission. Do you have permission to work on this person or object?
Think about it like ownership. I own my house, so I may work on it. The library is a public space, so I may clear it. If I want to work on a client's house, I need their permission. The same is true of people. I may always work on my self or my (non-adult) children, but need to ask before working on other adults.
      Our next question is 'can I?' Am I capable of doing this work. Clearing a house, pulling out a hiatal hernia, and teaching a yoga class all call for vastly different skills. 'Can I?' asks if you have the training and experience to do your next project. I've recently started a Patreon campaign to fund my content creation. It took six months of research and learning to put the campaign together. Before all that study the answer to 'can I?' was 'no.'
       Our final question, 'should I?' is the trickiest. Here we get into the gray area. We need to weigh several factors before continuing on. Is this action beneficial to me? To my community? To the world? Is there a better way of accomplishing this? Is there an easier way? Can someone else do this better than I? It's the reason we pay a plumber to come fix the sump pump. Yes, there is a YouTube video that shows how to do it, but he's done it many, many times. The work will be done much more easily and is less likely to fail.
      Now I keep these questions on post it notes on the inside of my manuals and teaching materials. They remind me to be content with the pace of my growth and teach my students the same thing. I'm not going to save the world all by myself, but when we all work together the world is a better place.