I was recently surprised by an unexpected email exchange I had with someone I didn’t know. It turned out to be a profound learning experience for me as a student of life. For that moment this person became my most unlikely and inspiring teacher. I would never have expected for her to show up like that from what seemed like nowhere. I meet so many people every day, known and unknown, every new meeting being utterly novel and unexpected, every person my teacher. Present moments are not all equal – some are more difficult to penetrate than others, some more surprising than others.

If we are open to hear, our teachers are everywhere; you may know them or you may have never met them before; they seem to materialize most unexpectedly (and often unnervingly) in the most surprising of circumstances, and they are almost sure to appear in the most unforeseen and inconvenient moments!

Some do not know they are your teachers at that moment, because they are too preoccupied with their own survival. They are mad at you, disappointed in you or plain rude. Although they don’t feel loving, accept their effects on you with loving wisdom before you respond with dignity and respect.

Other teachers meet you with grace. Their distinctive trait is to be uncompromising but kind. When we have it wrong, they gently but firmly set us straight!

There is no end to improvement ….

Copyright 2012 by Dr. Stphane Treyvaud. All rights reserved.