For a long time I thought I just was not fated to have teachers.  Very little of what I’ve learned about the Real has come from guru-types.  In fact, I am a lot biased against the guru-wannabes.

Maybe I’m like the three year old who’s got the blouse on inside-out and is focused on buttoning the thing regardless.   “Me do, me do,” the baby declares.

So do I!  What about you?

WHERE ARE MY TEACHERS?

Jerrold Mundis, a writer about financial things, in his book MAKING PEACE WITH MONEY posited that a student becomes “ready” for a teacher by keeping unobstructed and receptive, by setting aside biases and preconceptions, by being willing to listen and consider.

It becomes a matter of Un-Seeing, of finding out how your own prejudices,  preconceptions, and attitudes are stopping you from doing what you need to do to get to where you want to go.  Then, of course, you’ve got to make the effort to at least be open to other ways of thinking.  It’s not always easy.

Perhaps your greatest teacher is your own self and how you react to your own life experiences.

THE VALUE OF SELF-REFLECTION

As Julie Jansen, in her book, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT, BUT I KNOW IT’S NOT THIS, points out, “Self-assessment requires time, honesty, patience and introspection.”  Her whole book is all about self-assessment tests and finding out where your head and your heart are trending.

The following video, “The Value of Self-Reflection” is a TEDx talk by James Schmidt, a student at the University of Glasgow in 2015.  His thoughts have a deep poignancy from one so young.  In it he delineates the lessons he learned in dealing with the death of his father.

RECOGNIZING YOUR “TEACHER”

Jerrold Mundis also says that your “teacher” can be a person, a book, a phrase, an image, a thought, an overheard conversation, an inspiration, a tv show, or a lover.  He says, “We recognize the teacher only when we are open to the possibility of being taught.”

Hmmm.  Now, there’s a thought:  Maybe the teachers have been there all along and I just never recognized them. 

HOW ABOUT YOU?

So…what about you?  Are you ready to recognize your teachers?  What works for you?

Here’s a poem:

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HAPPENING TO LIFE

 

Okay.  I’ve made mistakes in my life

and regrets, I have more than a few…

Frank Sinatra’s signature song

makes a neat voice-over

as I’m bumbling my way down this

winding path of mine

that seems to make unexpected turns

and bends and jogs all the time

past assorted dangers and pretty things.

Still, I don’t think I could

do it any other way.

Sitting in some corner being quiet

feels like a punishment to me,

a mean teacher’s favorite consequence

for one who fidgets too much and

distracts the rest of the class from

stale, warmed-over lessons

that have no texture, no taste to them.

I like bubbles and butterflies and balloons,

all notorious for being flighty

and definitely ungrounded.

These things don’t last long,

but then, neither will I.

Sitting stolid and firm just

wouldn’t do, no, wouldn’t do.

’cause papa said that the best thing

is making sure you happen to life.

Otherwise, life will happen anyway.

It always does.

By Netta Kanoho

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Picture credit:  “Lightbulb vs Candle” by David Singleton via Flickr [CC BY 2.0]

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SOME OTHER POSTS TO EXPLORE

(Click on each of the post titles below and see where it takes you…)

• HOW TO LIVE WISDOM
• UNLOCK BEGINNER’S MIND
• HOW TO MESS AROUND

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