The Brilliant Actor

With the stones others put in our way you also can build a house. (Goethe)

She was competing for her first major theater role. She had to play a grieving daughter who lost her father to cancer. In the audience sat her former boyfriend who was now together with the girl who was competing for this role. Just as she entered the stage her ex-boyfriend made some derogatory comments to derail her in front of everyone. She pretended that she didn't hear anything and played on as if nothing happened. When it was her time to cry at her father's deathbed, though, she did so with an authenticity that surprised everyone. Naturally, she was picked to play the role. So who knows, perhaps it was only because of her obnoxious ex that she got this role.



One characteristic of a spiritual traveler is that we are no longer quite as driven as we once were before our journey opened up to us. Over time our subconscious drives fade as the WAY brings them out in the open and allows us to openly embrace and digest them. Yet, we can consciously advance with as much power and poise as in the more compulsively driven olden days. The drive has a more serene feel to it most of the time, but we face life's obstacles just as everyone. Perhaps we are more skilled though to channel this potentially negative occurrence into a more positive direction.



I have pretty straightforward rules of engagement when it comes to my work. I always look out for others and do my best to choose cooperation over competition but on occasions I have to face obstacles and resistance just like everyone else. When others willingly try to put me down I stand up for myself and my mission. It took me a while to figure out what the woman on the stage realized as well: ill-will, ridicule and neglect also can be pretty powerful motivators just as praise can be. One thing is important to keep in mind though, we spiritual travelers never fight anyone. We only fight for our mission and assertively make our position clear to everyone when we have to. It would never occur to us to put anyone else down in this conflict. Along the WAY, friends and the so-perceived foes are all our mirror images. We wouldn't shadow box our mirrors, would we?