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Learning From Others' Mistakes
This seems to be a problem with a lot of people; I don't know if it is independence, pride or plain out cussedness but a lot of us are hard headed and don't listen to other people when they give us the hard earned examples of their experience, but instead plow right on in and sink up to our necks in the same morass. It's not a very bright way to learn.
My Women's Meditation for today talks about this, and it's relevant to me because I am finding this is not just a problem of youth, it can be a persistent and lifelong problem. We're a sandwich generation, Mani and I, with stubborn parents, stubborn siblings and stubborn children. Learning to share what we've learned in such a way that it is not preachy or makes out like we feel superior is difficult. Most people like to think that everything they do is their own idea, and it takes some finesse to present things to people so that it turns out to be their decision and not yours. If people feel manipulated, even a little, they resent the person who is trying to help them... it doesn't matter how altruistic the help is.
That is what I have learned from trying to offer others the benefit of my experience ;-)
What I have learned from ignoring the mistakes of others could fill up several volumes of life experience. In other words, I've wasted a lot of time and energy having to "do it myself". I put my own limitations in this department on the doorstep of Pride, which we all know is the deadliest sin ;-p I like to think I know better than anyone else. That is both foolhardy and wrongheaded. I know I'm not alone in that tendency, though. It's just something I need to work on, my issues with authority, with humility, with staying in beginner's mind and accepting that yes, sometimes other people are not just smarter than me, but have had different life experiences that can enhance mine through listening to and internalizing the lessons they won the hard way.
Affirmation for today... I am willing to learn from the mistakes made by others.
I accept that the experiences of others can be my teachers.
I am open to learning with ease.
My Women's Meditation for today talks about this, and it's relevant to me because I am finding this is not just a problem of youth, it can be a persistent and lifelong problem. We're a sandwich generation, Mani and I, with stubborn parents, stubborn siblings and stubborn children. Learning to share what we've learned in such a way that it is not preachy or makes out like we feel superior is difficult. Most people like to think that everything they do is their own idea, and it takes some finesse to present things to people so that it turns out to be their decision and not yours. If people feel manipulated, even a little, they resent the person who is trying to help them... it doesn't matter how altruistic the help is.
That is what I have learned from trying to offer others the benefit of my experience ;-)
What I have learned from ignoring the mistakes of others could fill up several volumes of life experience. In other words, I've wasted a lot of time and energy having to "do it myself". I put my own limitations in this department on the doorstep of Pride, which we all know is the deadliest sin ;-p I like to think I know better than anyone else. That is both foolhardy and wrongheaded. I know I'm not alone in that tendency, though. It's just something I need to work on, my issues with authority, with humility, with staying in beginner's mind and accepting that yes, sometimes other people are not just smarter than me, but have had different life experiences that can enhance mine through listening to and internalizing the lessons they won the hard way.
Affirmation for today... I am willing to learn from the mistakes made by others.
I accept that the experiences of others can be my teachers.
I am open to learning with ease.