Spiritual Teachers

I have been thinking about teachers and teaching moments lately...

I have concluded that one of my roles in this life is to be a teacher...I say that with humility because all I have to share are the lessons I learned either in another lifetime or in this one. Sometimes I do it willingly because I am focused on helping another person or I am thrust into a situation where as a result of having to stand up for my truth and integrity, I model that behavior for others.  I strongly believe that modeling behavior - good and bad - gives the choice to others to adopt similar behavior.  In the case of modeling good behavior, it also helps shift the consciousness of the universe towards the light.

In those very few instances where I have been thrust into a situation where I have to stand up for my beliefs and ethical standards, I make evident where the ethical issues are by documenting what transpired.  I also describe the damage it caused to the people involved which then translates to a negative impact to the company.  Documented facts are difficult to hide from and they become a necessary ingredient to stating the truth.

At my last job, my boss back stabbed me because she felt threatened by me.  I had a dream the other night and I saw the moment she shifted her attitude towards me out of fear for her job.  I had had a meeting with another executive that was working with my boss on a project that cost millions of dollars. This project was supposed to yield innovative ideas for the future.  However, the ideas that resulted from about 6 months of work were not at all innovative, they had already been discussed internally as run of the mill logical ideas to pursue before a consulting firm was involved and millions of dollars were spent.

As a result of this fiasco the executive I met with on a different topic spoke in very negative terms about my boss.  I was frustrated about the whole project because I had the experience and know-how to lead it, and had put my name as a candidate to be the project executive.  My boss thought this was her chance to shine so didn't want me involved.  I then met with my boss and summarized the meeting I had had with the executive.  My intention in communicating this to my boss was to be transparent and I communicated it in a sensitive and factual manner.  This was the moment I dreamt about a few days ago and surely when my boss felt that I was a threat to her.

Once she back stabbed me by lying about work-related weaknesses I supposedly had to justify moving me to another area - I was so well documented that  it became evident she had lied about these - I confronted her and asked her how she could do that, what was she doing lying about me and back stabbing me,  that this was unethical behavior that she did not need to engage in, etc., etc.  She looked at me and didn't say anything.  I know she grasped the message and that it was a teaching moment for her but she didn't have the guts to reverse the damage she had made.  Another teaching moment was the document I left for the top executives to read once I resigned my position.

This was an extreme situation where I felt forced to resign my position.  I could have stayed but I would have been putting a price to my integrity and what I hold dear in my life. So I didn't have a choice.  There are other less dramatic situations where speaking up also results in turmoil and disruption but the question is, what is the price of not speaking up for things one considers important?

I don't seek opportunities to be a teacher where I pay a brutal price for it, I would prefer not to have to do it anymore.  Somehow I think that life will present me with those opportunities again and the price I will not pay is to compromise my integrity.  I hope that the truth will prevail next time and that I am not forced to take any extreme measures such as resigning.

In the situations where I am helping others by sharing my life lessons, I don't pay any price.  I get rewarded by the infinite satisfaction of having someone make more informed choices.  They may not be the choices I would have made but they are informed choices which makes all the difference to me.  I respect the fact that we all have to find our own paths.