Subscribe to RSS
I read an old Taoist story about a student who comes to a master and asks him to teach him. The master invites the student to sit with him and have tea. While they are sitting, the master starts to coverse with the eager young student. Every time the master begins to explain a point, the student interrupts him, saying, “Oh, I know that……I will do ‘this’ when ‘that’ happens……or I don’t have that problem because………” Soon the master stops talking and picks up the teapot. He begins pouring tea into the student’s cup until it overflows and spills out. The student shouts to him, “Stop! It is enough! My cup is full!” With that, the old master smiles and replies, “Yes, your cup is full, therefore I can teach you nothing until you empty your cup.”
How do I empty my cup?
- Adopt a teachable attitude. It doesn’t matter how many times you have heard the same message, but what does matter is whether or not you have mastered the message by effortlessly executing what has been taught. It is always interesting to me how our perspective can change with time or according to circumstance. You might be hearing the same message as before, but it may have newfound significance to you because you have changed since you last heard it.
- Open yourself up to something new. Get out and explore. Try new things out to see how they feel. It’s never to late to learn something new about yourself or anything else. We humans are truly creatures of habit and we tend to gravitate toward the known and familiar. When was the last time you went to a new restaurant or met someone new? It is always amazing to watch young children as they discover the world. You can almost see their brain soaking up new information by the second. As adults, we also need new experiences to keep us fresh and alive!
- Go to seminars, classes, or workshops. There really are no shortcuts to this one. So many of us get caught up in our daily routines and we don’t invest the time and money to go to events. Aside from learning new information at these events, the energetic exchange with others is absolutely priceless.
- Don’t let your ego get in the way. When you are teachable, you are able to learn from any source. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because someone is younger than you, earns less money than you, or is of a different religion or culture that you have nothing to learn from them. We are all teachers and we are all students.
Is your cup empty, or do you say, “I am already wealthy, intelligent, and successful so I don’t need anything else.” Are you able to put what you think you already know aside long enough for your cup to be re-filled? Are you teachable?
As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot. ~ Â Ray Kroc
 |
 |
 |
 |
When I was 7, I wrote a little poem entitled, “I’d Rather Be Me”. Â In the poem, I wrote that while being certain things appeared interesting or exciting, they each had an innate down side. I concluded that the only truly fulfilling thing was simply just to be me. Â It’s strange now to think that I had a rather deep understanding of this at a young age, but somehow during my teens and 20’s, allowed myself to lose focus or maybe confidence in that fact. Â I spent many years allowing society to dictate the “me” that everyone interacted with. I suppose many people have a similar experience where they desire to be themselves, but don’t quite know how to express it in our world of endless conditioning from media, friends, or perhaps outdated family beliefs or traditions. Â Many people simply go through the motions in life and never truly live a life that boldly expresses who they are, what their core values are, what their gifts and talents are, or from a place of core purpose.
Nathaniel Branden once said, “Tell me how a person judges his or her self-esteem and I will tell you how that person operates at work, in love, in sex, in parenting, in every important aspect of existence–and how high he or she is likely to rise. The reputation you have with yourself–your self-esteem–is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.![iStock_000015382620XSmall[1]](http://blog.morningcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/iStock_000015382620XSmall11-150x150.jpg)
Have you let opportunities slip by because you didn’t think you were good enough? You probably know someone with this attitude or you are that person. I know from my own experience how easily I fell into a victim role at such an early impressionable age of 12. I started to believe the “schoolyard bullies” and took their criticism personally and became over sensitive, and had low self esteem. Throughout my teenage years I made poor decisions because I wanted to fit in and be accepted. I always worried about what others thought of me. I was easy prey to those people who wanted to hurt me. I didn’t trust myself or believe in myself which led to a cycle of victimhood for many years. I just didn’t think I was good enough.
