Unlimited Potential Healing Center

Somewhere I heard that a tribe of the American Indians consider that we can have three kinds of teachers.

The Positive Teacher

The first kind of teacher is one that teaches us by their positive example. Their words and life demonstrate in a most wonderful way how to be, how to live, and what is really important. They provide answers to the big questions of life. Not only is their teaching true and helpful, but they walk their talk. You are truly blessed if you have this shining example in your life as a guide.

However, the downside is that their teaching can be taken on faith without examination. Their lessons may be learned by rote. With unquestioning acceptance of what is said, their student may not learn how to learn, how to find the answers to what was not provided, how to discern and evaluate information. They may not learn how to handle or adapt to changing times or situations not encountered by their teacher. There is also a potential danger of remaining dependent on the teacher instead of growing in maturity and going beyond to develop a strong connection to the Source of all wisdom and truth on their own.

If you are accustomed to simply accepting what you are told and later meet an imperfect teacher, or imperfect followers of the perfect teacher, or if your teacher who had previously been a shining example gets caught up in ego and deviates from the path, you may not have developed your power of discernment to prevent you from also being led astray. Or you may chuck the whole teaching, throwing out what was good and valuable as well as what was not.

Another possibility is that although the teacher of the positive example found answers that were right for their own life and faithfully reported them to you, what was right for them may not be right for you or right at this point in time. You still have to process what you are being taught and told through the still small voice within you.

The Negative Teacher

The second type of teacher is someone who teaches you how to be and how to live by providing a strong example of how not to be or how not to live. Those who present the negative path are also very powerful teachers and can push you to self-reliance. By alienating you, they have freed you from dependency and having to conform to their ideas in order to please them. In so doing, you may learn to listen to your own heart and set a better course for yourself.

For example, if a parent abandons his children, you, as one of those children, may make a commitment to never abandon your own children because you experienced first hand the pain of that experience. As a result, your own children are blessed with the security that you will never leave them. If you had been around someone who taunted, humiliated, or verbally degraded you, you may learn to always think before you speak and to respect the feelings of others. This makes you nicer to be around. However, just because you may be gifted with a painful experience that has the potential to teach you much, 

learning is optional and never guaranteed.

The downside to the negative example is that you may simply judge and condemn this kind of teacher without ever finding the positive lesson. You may dwell in anger, bitterness or resentment, and may, unwittingly become like the very person you detest.

The Coyote Teacher

The third type is the coyote teacher that provides conflicting and confusing messages.  They give you both good and bad. They may say one thing but do another, or adhere to certain principles in one area while living/acting differently in another. Consequently, their message is confusing. They may give you only part of what you need and want to know. They sometimes tell you things that are true and helpful, but they may also tell you things that are false or hurtful, providing both positive and negative examples. The bottom line is that the Coyote forces you to dig down deep inside of yourself to find the answers for yourself. The gift that can potentially come out of this is for you sort through the mess to find your own truth and wisdom.

All types of teachers have value.

As you think of your parents, family members, school teachers, friends and associates, you may have witnessed examples all three kinds of teachers in your life already. The point is:

LEARN FROM ALL OF THEM!

The moment you learn, the moment you find the blessing, it takes the sting out of painful experiences and relationships, and removes confusion and discord. It also leads to greater understanding, acceptance and tolerance.

Ask yourself:

Is what I am hearing true? Is it always true? Can I still trust this message?

Is this example trustworthy, something that I want to emulate?

What can I learn from this person, this relationship, this interchange, positive or negative?

What is good that I admire and respect?

What is the positive opposite of what I am witnessing that I do not admire or respect, or dislike?

How can I use the words, message, example, positive or negative, of this person to be a better person myself?

What is the message others are getting from my life, my words and actions, my example?

Copyright by Roxanne Louise. However, this article may be shared in other free online sources only if this copyright notice and link to the following:

http://www.roxannelouise.com and http://unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter.com