The Book of Lessons
Dan’s thoughts
On our soul journey, everything we experience, is a lesson of some sort.
Lesson is the wrong word but it’s the closest word we can use to explain the events. I believe that “lessons” can be broken down into 4 types of experiences:
- We are the observer of the event.
- We are the participants in the event.
- We are the teacher of an event.
- We learn something from an event.
Since we are all here and connected to everything, we all have at least one of these roles to play. A “lesson” is not always, and in fact rarely, what we would ordinarily define as a universal “ah ha” moment – the meaning and the definition depend on the receiver, the receiver’s role, the context, and the need.
What I am trying to say is that we don’t always need to learn from every lesson. Consider a river for example: what do we learn from the river?
Typically, we think of the origins of a river like this: A river starts as a cold air mass that meets moisture and forms snow and accumulates on the mountains. Spring comes and melts the snow and that droplet of moisture….
But wait a minute. Before that
droplet formed, those molecules experienced a chemical bond, and before that those atoms experienced energy… and isn’t that what we all are, energy?
Back to the “lesson” of the river: The stream, formed by the melting snow, runs down the mountain. The molecules chose their own path. The stream chooses its own path. The animals that depend on that stream choose their own path. The people that enjoy that water have chosen their own path. Each path independent and not responsible for the outcomes of choices made by others….
Perhaps my lesson here, as the observer is this:
- I see the beauty and power of the mountain stream.
- I see the life force flowing and am grateful for the abundance.
- I see that the river has the authority to wash clean and remove what no longer serves it: the sticks and trees, the rocks and mountains, and the silt and pollutants that tried to alter its chosen path.
Perhaps my lesson as the participant is this:
- I realize that the river is constantly moving and flowing, and with every moment comes new opportunity to learn and grow.
- When I step into the river, I feel it is sometimes roaring, powerful, scary and destructive but at times it is calm, peaceful and just meandering.
- I don’t control the river – it has a chosen path. I can simply get in my canoe and just see where the current takes me or I can bring a paddle and attempt to steer.
Perhaps my lesson as the teacher is this:
- I can point out where the white water is in the stream ahead and help locate the eddies.
- I can throw out a spare life jacket while still holding on to my own.
Perhaps my lesson as the learner is this:
I ask “is the river really just a metaphor for my life experience”?
Hmmmm…And what do I learn from that?
So, were we the “observer” of this lesson or the “participant” and were we “learning “or “teaching?”
The answer is yes. If we look at our experiences and place them in a Book of Lessons, we will notice that some of the pages are bright and shiny – maybe even laminated with perfect spelling and grammar and even the margins are perfect. Some of the pages however are worn, beat up and tattered with stains and cross outs and doodles in the margin and the corners are dog-eared and oh, my what’s up with that page? Is this a hard lesson that we keep going back to? Or is this a page that we are teaching from? 
What page are you on?