Throughout human history, knowledge and wisdom have been passed on from master to apprentice. From the practical to the esoteric, there are things we can educate ourselves on and there are things we need the help of others to learn. It could be an individual or even an entire community, but learning from others is part of what we came here to do.
Someone who has mastered a particular skill or quality and is willing to take the time and energy to pass that on to someone else is known as a “journeyman”. The person who seeks to learn from them is an “apprentice”. As the poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island”. Consider that as well as learning, part of our purpose this lifetime is to share with others and to help them learn, for our mutual benefit.
We will have many teachers and many students this lifetime, but when we establish an affinity or rapport with a particular person, that attraction is there for a reason. Everyone came to planet earth with a unique skill set or way of being which makes them unique. It is like their energetic blueprint, perhaps an accumulation of experiences through lifetimes that they truly exemplify or live. It is their most natural way of being.
When you take the time to share what you have learned or put together for yourself you’ll feel a tremendous joy. Just watch people come alive when you ask them to share something they are passionate about!
In giving help or advice consider the following:
- Give opportunity for involvement so that people can learn for themselves.
- Be sure to give people the big picture, as well as the necessary details, remember to ask if they are clear on their task.
- Let them know that you are there to back and support them in their endeavors, but don’t do it for them.
- Take the time to check in with your own guidance or intuition as to what a person might really need or what would be the most helpful thing for them right now.
- Don’t have expectations. You may never know the impact you have on someone. People will change when they are ready to change in their own way and in their own timing.
- Be constructive with feedback by focusing on all that the person is doing right.
- It’s not what you say it’s how you say it; it helps to have the attitude of finding solutions together.
- When the person senses your true concern for their success they will be more likely to take your suggestions seriously.
The more we give for the sheer joy of giving, the more fun it becomes to share our wisdom with others. Your skills will grow as you continue to share them. Accept who you are, where you are at and that you do have something worth sharing.
By simply being the best “you” that you can be, you are already reaching the people who need to learn from you, your spiritual apprentices.