When the Student is Ready the Teacher Appears

When we open ourselves to understanding, the lessons we seek appear.  Three years ago I started this blog with all the enthusiasm and excitement we love to give to new beginnings.  But in a very short time that energy seemed to die away, lost it seemed under the crush of everyday life.

It took me a couple of years to realize that what I thought was lost had actually been occurring in the background.  The mindfulness of change was missing, but the deep personal desire to grow was actively working at a level of unconsciousness. 

We think that once we decide to make changes in our lives they will happen immediately.  We think we will wake in the morning completely different, all the hard work done.  In truth, authentic change begins as a whisper in our souls.  Somewhere at the pit of our Being we begin to desire change and that creates change to small for us to measure.  Like the change of day to night or summer to fall, we don’t feel the movement of time until enough change has occurred to make us aware.  “Oh, wow, it’s getting dark, didn’t realize how late it was”, or “Weather is starting to cool lately, fall is on the way.” 

In the same way, we awaken within ourselves; realizing one day all the small changes that had been occurring preparing us for now.  As we change we grow and the levels of personal transformation we thought would be immediate begin to unfold within us.  One of my favorite quotes is:  “When the student is ready the teacher appears.”  We are truly students of life, on a journey to enlightenment.  When we open ourselves up to the knowledge, we realize that life is our teacher. 

We begin to see experiences differently as our “ah-ha” moments come more frequently.  We observe others doing the things we so desperately wish to change within ourselves and we are able to see, without judgement, what we need to do.  The teacher whispers to our soul and the message rises to our consciousness and changes us forever. 

Look at a flower.  It doesn’t shoot from the ground the moment we plant the seeds, No it first digs deep developing its roots so that as it emerges into the light it is strong and capable of receiving nourishment.  Slowly a tiny little leaf-like section becomes a bud, little by little growing and unfolding until the flower it was meant to be emerges. The caterpillar becomes the butterfly, tadpoles become frogs – all of life transforms.  I keep this in mind as I walk my life’s journey remembering that I have not just started to transform but I have been in the process of transformation every day of my life.

When I close my eyes in meditation and breathe deeply the teacher appears and I begin to uncover and discover my purpose and my path. So be okay with small victories and minute changes.  Walk your path with joy, knowing your teacher is present and each day whether you recognize it or not you are transforming.