One of the most remarkable movies of all time to me has been Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi and Daniel “son” were the classic student/teacher duo. Mr. Miyagi’s creativity and patience were lessons for all of us on so many levels. But in this blog, to me, it was all about Daniel. He showed a desire to learn… He may have grown inpatient with the manner of which he was taught, but nonetheless, he showed up, was relentless in learning and his outcomes showcased the effort. The ideal example of possibility when we are ready.
One example in the “adulting” phase of life is the many important conversations that need had, or new approaches that need taken as we move toward our best self and best life. The need to dive into our own back story to learn how history and/or context may have shaped our initial thoughts and narrated our early opinion is essential, as it gives us context. This type of learning and the work that goes into it is always worth it in the end, but feels a lot like Daniel’s experience in being asked to “wax on, wax off…”confusing and grueling at times.
Most importantly, this is what I feel is the idea example of the Buddhist principle, “When the student is ready… the teacher appears.” We can only find this type of teacher when we are ready for it. The good news, the universe delivers us up some excellent teachers and they come in the forms of books, podcasts, movies, friends, family, mentors, colleagues, and of course professional help. I so love it when the world shows up for me just when I need it. (Chances are, they were there all along, I just wasn’t ready to listen.)
Is there any area of your life where you are ready for a teacher? You might not even know the answer. I know I want to elevate my financial understanding this year… investment options, etc. I have found that just when I started honing in on that, Twitter has served up some excellent resources and those have resulted in a couple of new books, podcasts etc. The world seems to shine right when you are ready.
If you have any similar examples or stories we’d all love to hear them! I hope that this idea is as useful for you as it has been for me. The old quote showed up in my world a few months ago and I knew I wanted to write about it, and it just keeps showing up. I’m hopeful that just the right person finds this to be a helpful sign at just the right on time!
