TheLeaderInside.com

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”
                                 ~Ancient Zen Saying

Become a student of LIFE! 

When I was in high school I was a good student – academically speaking that is! 
I took my class seriously and earned good grades as a result.
As a student of life however, I was a complete lunkhead!
Whenever ‘bad’ things happened I automatically went into “poor me” mode – “Why does bad stuff always happen to me?”
I never really took the time to learn from the situation.  Instead I opted to feel sorry for myself and wallow in my depression.
Needless to say, I made the same mistakes over and over again, and didn’t grow very much as a person.

At this stage of my life the student was not yet ready, so the teacher did not appear.

As I got older I began to eliminate some of my bad thinking habits due to an increased focus on personal development, however there was still one major area I was ignoring – my shyness.  I was unbelievably shy and it was having a very negative impact on my life – yet I still refused to do anything significant about it. I continued to read my self-help books, hoping I’d come across the magic formula for supreme confidence. Needless to say that did not happen, but at least I did manage to lay the groundwork for a positive outlook on life, and a healthy sense of perspective.

Eventually the teacher became impatient, and appeared in the form of a very stressful social meltdown. Finally, I realized just how much of an effect my social anxiety was having on my life, and truly felt like I had hit rock bottom. It is often only in these extreme situations that we finally gain the perspective necessary for positive change.
The teacher finally had my full attention and I was ready to learn.  I made a pact with myself that day to do whatever it took to overcome my fears and anxiety!  I haven’t looked back since!

Most of us get SO wrapped up in the day to day hustle and bustle of life that we really don’t take the time to notice what’s really going on within, and around us. We get caught up in the emotions and drama, and forget that there is MUCH to be learned, even from the most negative of experiences and emotions.

It was Henry David Thoreau who said “Only that day dawns to which we are awake”… Stay awake…Stay alert. The teacher is everywhere.
Become a student of life and you will reap the benefits that an increased level of awareness can bring.

~BC