I believe that everyone I meet is my teacher. Good or bad, positive experience or negative experience, they’ve each in their own way taught me something. Not just something about my life or living but something about myself, my behavior, my way of being, who I am, the work I still need to do.
Over the years, I know that both of my daughters have been my greatest teachers so far to date and each for very different reasons. PHEW! There were some extremely trying and difficult days throughout their childhoods; days when I sometimes wondered if I had the strength and fortitude to help them through their toughest times. Days when I didn’t have the answers and didn’t know what to do. Those were the same days that taught me the most. They showed me where I needed to reach out for help, they showed me where I did have the strength and wisdom to impart on their little lives. And, as they move through their 20’s now, I can look back on my parenting thus far and know in my heart that I did the very best that I could have based on my spiritual condition at that moment in time.
Of course I could have done things differently, or better and it’s doubtful there’s a parent in the world who would say otherwise. But they taught me lessons about life, love, conflict resolution, joy, the value of life, and so much more.
Clearly, it isn’t just our children who are our greatest teachers, it’s actually anyone we meet. Every day we have an opportunity to interact with someone, friend or stranger. Each and every interaction is a chance for me to look at them as my mirror. Because they ARE my mirror!
Everyone you meet will show you exactly where you are stuck. They say or do something and you instantly and automatically get hooked into a familiar way of reacting. Maybe your way is to shut down or to get activated sending your body into Fight, Flight and Freeze mode, maybe you get angry and justified and go into a defensive mode, maybe you pretend it’s ok.
But if we’re aware and paying attention to our habitual ways of being, be it with anger, avoidance, and so forth, it actually gives us a chance to see our patterns and work with them honestly and compassionately.
Of course that’s only if you actually notice, right?
Without others provoking you, you remain ignorant of your painful habits and cannot train in transforming them into the path of awakening.
In my own practice, I like to say to the Universe, “bring it on!” I know it’s not always fun to look in the mirror and truly see who’s staring back at me. It’s not always fun to see my faults and the places I need to grow and change. But, I also know that if I don’t take myself on, there will never be any growth.
Nothing changes until we notice. If I want my life to stay the same, that’s the easy part! I could simply sit back and pretend that some of the behaviors I exhibit which may have left someone feeling less than, ignored or unimportant don’t really matter.
These are the very interactions we can all feel and perhaps leave in the unspoken, try to brush them off and move on from.
But the energetic residue of any interaction lingers, good or bad. So instead, I question myself. I question that feeling left behind. I want to stay forever curious. I want to be curious about whatever’s showing up in my life and the lessons they are meant to teach me.
These are the lessons meant to teach me where I have yet to grow.
If you are ready to dive into your life, take a peek at some of the lessons your life is trying to teach you, join me for a dynamic, thought-provoking coaching session designed to hold the mirror up to you, your way of life and help you design the future you envision.
I also offer a 30-minute complimentary session to see if we might be a good fit to work together.