I Take No Credit

My genes come from Kendrick and Jeannine Mercer.My primary work material comes from my father Kendrick Mercer.  He invented the Mountain Experience and the Freedom Experience and gave me the basic foundation from which I work and understand what it means to be a human.From my mother I learned fairness, humility, love, care, and goodness.From this foundation, I have worked on myself and discovered so much that has been useful in my life.  It has been a challenging path and I have worked hard and diligently at it.  Nearly all if not all of this work has been in letting go and un-learning things that people and society taught me.The more I work on myself, the deeper is my understanding.  This is not from my own invention, but quite the opposite.  I have read and studied with many teachers who have had a deep impact on me.  Beyond this, the more my ego and identity get out of the way, the more I am able to let come through me, but it is not from me.Certain fundamental truths can be found within many religious and spiritual traditions but may very be well hidden behind dogma.  Most often these understandings come when I am in the consciousness of the Inquiry Method and interacting with my students and clients.My primary teachers now are Dr. K.L. Shankaranarayana Jois and my local teacher Kristin Laak.  I owe so much to them for opening me to the knowledge held in the yogic tradition but also in deepening my connection with my source and opening my mind to fundamental truths.Other significant teachers and philosophies that have influenced me are Byron Katie, Osho, Don Miguel Ruiz, Stephen Pressfield, Seth Godin, The Ennegram Institute, David Deida, Michael Singer, Reggie Ray, Choygam Trungpa, Tom Brown, Ken Wilber, Guy Murchie, Ruth Bee Hill, Patrick O’Brien, Taosim, Buddhism, Yoga, Christianity, and many more.Janice Lindgren opened my doors in many ways and was there when I needed her through so many challenges.I have James Price to thank for my understanding of the coaching business and many other gifts, including his unfailing support and mentoring.Lenn Snyder has been so helpful as a catalyst for healing.My son, Henry Mercer, has taught me equanimity, laughter, and joy.There have been many different teachers, friends, and mentors who have contributed without necessarily knowing they were doing so, such as Terri McDonald, who taught me so much about being a dad, and Dauray Owens, who taught me about love.And above all, there are those who have been devoted to this work and have supported this work.  Without your support and encouragement, it would be hard to have the courage to keep looking deeper.  Included are my coaching/mentoring clients, who are so generous with their trust and successful with the insights we find for them.With all these influences, and with all the supportive influences of the abundant country I live in—freedom of belief and the economic and cultural abundance I grew up in—how can I take any credit?  All I can do is be grateful for my blessings and share them as much as I can.My ego wants to think it does it all, which is its excuse for maintaining its position of power, for running the show.  In fact the ego was always in the way whenever I wanted to learn or unlearn something.  But I have to thank my ego, too, for holding me together when things were too much to handle, for deflecting the criticism, and for keeping the ship going during the rough parts I wasn’t ready to handle.It is time to let it go.  I am only a vessel for all I have learned and unlearned.  I take no credit.When you take credit for your life, who are you forgetting?We came from nowhere and are going to nowhere when we die.  All of our egoic engagement in the world has been informed by others.  We are at our best when our ego and identity are reduced into the background.  We can grow more when we realize all we have accomplished is not who we truly are, in the same way all of our destructive patterns are who we truly are.At our best, as a neutral vessel, something can come through us that looks like genius or creativity, that has a quality of grace.  With practice, we can get out of the way and have this quality come through us more freely.  And while we take no credit, we are blessed to be the conduit through which it passes.  This is the real bliss and happiness that we can enjoy, that supports our paths and our lives.Love,Kyle