Life Lessons

Another Lesson from the past

Life Lessons

October 3, 2004

 I had two things happen to me this past couple of weeks that I wanted to share with you. I am calling them life lessons because that is what they are for me.

One lesson involves the living and one, the recently departed but both tell me something about my life and how to live it with more power freedom and self expression.

First, I will admit that I am a bit of a snob sometimes. Oh, I know that I am always nice to you when you see me and I would never say anything bad to you directly, but sometimes those thoughts go through my head. You know, thoughts like; “boy, he’s a little overweight”, “oh, that scar is kind of offensive”, or “who dressed her today”? I know we all have thoughts like these (and maybe some a little worse) and they are a product of our culture, our families and our education, but they are designed to separate us, to keep us from seeing the person inside.

Well, I had the opportunity last week to confront one of these thoughts head on. I was out networking and met a woman I have had a brief acquaintance with in the past and who I wrote off because she has some physical characteristics that didn’t quite appeal to me. I had made my judgment of her based purely on this external data and therefore had never gotten to know her. As we talked that night, I began to see inside of her and as I listened to her share herself with me, she began to take on a whole new look. Her features softened, her body reshaped and I began to see her as she really was. As I let myself open to the beauty that was her, I realized that I could do this with everyone I met. That I could stop being led by my prejudices and instead, lead myself by my spirit to look deep into each person I meet, because I really do know, as my friend Sherlock would say, that we are spiritual beings in a human body.

What a moment of freedom that was for me and what an opportunity to listen to the deeper voice inside of me instead of that surface voice that speaks from all the media sources in my brain. I will now stay a little longer on your words and listen a little deeper to your soul as we speak, for I know that you are a gift to me in that moment.

Speaking of gifts, I want to take just a moment to honor my friend Richard Anderson who left us this past week. I met Richard through my wife. He was the person who first introduced her to the Landmark Forum and he is the father of our dear friend Melinda. Richard was a lifelong learner, an asker of questions and a teller of tales. If you met him, he would see you almost at once for the special soul you were and would almost immediately begin to challenge your assumptions and have you looking for the deeper meaning in your life. His was a transformed life, one that will never end for those who knew him.

Richard Anderson

Richard’s message to me is to keep looking, keep asking and most important, keep giving back to every person you meet, to every soul you encounter.  Life is a process of transformation and as we continue to ask the important questions, as we continue to strive for being a better person and as we take on lifting ourselves up from just living to really being in life, we too can leave the kind of legacy that Richard left for the people in his life. I will not forget the lessons he taught or the love he left. Thank you Richard, may your next journey bring you joy.