By Dennis Merritt Jones, DD
In the School of Life
Remaining Teachable Is a Prerequisite
“Draw the value from the lesson. Take a look at whatever is going on in your life that you may be feeling overpowered by or have given too much authority to and challenge it.” ~ The Art of Being
Even though our kids’ school started recently, the School of Life is a perpetual classroom, open 24/7, 365 days a year. With this in mind, I have a question for you. Do you consider yourself to be teachable? Are you able to stand back objectively, observe, and learn from your experiences – or, like so many of us, do you continue to repeat them endlessly? (This is how the past becomes the future, again and again). Have you noticed how certain irritating issues in life can be self-perpetuating – how annoying circumstances, conditions, and even people follow you around like a lost puppy dog – almost as if an invisible leash tethered them to you? The saying, “we can run but we cannot hide” comes to mind. When we are not teachable, some of our most repetitive problems take on a life of their own and attach themselves to us at the hip.
If the aforementioned scenario sounds familiar, the question we may wish to unpack is, why? Why is this happening to me again, and how can I break the cycle? It begins with the question, are we teachable? Some say that within every question lies the answer. A word of caution, however: In the School of Life, the headteacher is a taskmaster. If we are teachable and willing to ask the tough questions, we had better be prepared to hear the answers. When we cannot embrace the lesson being offered, metaphorically, we are emitting a message to the Universe saying, “Hey… send me more of the same.” The law of cause and effect aligns with the law of attraction – which together never fails in drawing to us whatever reflects our predominant thoughts and deepest beliefs about ourselves and life. As an example, many of us have gone from one dysfunctional relationship or unsatisfactory job to the next, and then the next, and the next, never stopping long enough to explore the possibility that each failed experience had something to increase our wisdom IF we are teachable.
If we are not teachable, we can run, but we can’t hide from ourselves. While the next person’s eyes and hair color may be different, the “issues” aren’t; while the next job may offer a new work environment, amazingly enough, the same “problem” people show up in different bodies. We can’t outrun our self-limiting behaviors and beliefs because they will follow us like our own shadow; however, we can transcend them by exposing them to the light of present-moment awareness. We simply need to be mindful when they pop up. This is the reward to be found in remaining open and teachable; an opportunity to change our mind, our behavior and, ultimately, the trajectory of our life.
Consider using the following affirmation as your mantra: Today, I invite the problems that follow me around to reveal the lesson they have come to share. By being aware and teachable, I “sever the tether” and set myself free.
Peace, Dennis Merritt Jones, DD
Copyright © 2024 – DMJ Presentations LLC • www.DennisMerrittJones.comDennis Merritt Jones’ vision is “Guiding People to Purpose.” He is an award-winning author of seven books, a keynote speaker, and personal mentor/coach who loves living in St. Petersburg. If you would like more information regarding his availability as a speaker, his mentoring programs, and his books, please visit his website at DennisMerrittJones.com.