Trusting a Teacher

A teacher can take on many forms- a coach, a friend, a family member, an ancient philosopher, a person on the street, an author, a coworker, or an artist. Anyone that guides your life, directly or indirectly, for good or for bad, is a teacher. Teachers can be classified in two ways. One is a close person, such as a friend or family member. We often trust these people with our thoughts and ideas. They can be an excellent source of support, but they will often guard your feelings. The other teacher is a third party, a stranger. A person you don't know can be a great teacher from a completely different angle. They may know valuable things that can help you, without the set foreknowledge of who you are to taint their ability to help you with a goal. A good teacher can help you protect yourself from yourself.

As an example, if you have an expensive rare clock that is broken you would need someone to fix it. Regardless of your trust in a friend or family member, or how much they console you about your broken antique clock, that trust and consolation can't do what a neutral unbiased expert on rare clock repair can do. When the clock repairman comes over, you must trust his expertise to achieve the goal of getting the clock repaired.Your friends or family, even though well intentioned, may further damage the clock if they try to help.

Trusting a teacher is a scary situation. You are required to give total trust to a stranger in order to gain from their knowledge or service. This mean we have to let our walls down.
The goal of fitness often requires a teacher, or a guide. In fact, fitness isn't a goal at all, it is an absolutely mandatory condition of life. So the delicacy of your life can be far more delicate than a rare clock. You may find yourself broken, like a clock, and you may need help getting yourself repaired. If you are broken, like the clock, it is great to have the support of friends and family to help you, but you may also need the guidance of a true teacher to help you step outside of your comfort zone to reach something that is unreachable within your comfort zone.

No human being on Earth is meant to be unhealthy or overweight. You aren't designed that way. It's not a matter of simple guidelines, but rather a matter of letting go of your fears.
Here is a conversation I had with someone once...

Jane: "Laren, how do I get healthy? I've tried everything!"
Me: "No you haven't."
Jane: "What? Yes I have! I've tried eating right and exercising."
Me: "No you haven't."
Jane: "WHAT?! Yes I have! I tried a diet for two weeks and it didn't work so I quit, and I joined a gym. So I have tried!!! I am trying!"
Me: "No you aren't."
Jane: "I gained weight even though I swear I really have been eating right and exercising."
Me: "No you haven't."
Jane: "Huh?! What do you mean?!"
Me: "It is scientifically impossible to eat right and exercise and become unhealthy and obese. That's not how the human body works. There's no mystical voodoo curse on you that has made you physiologically any different than anyone else as far as your body's response to your lifestyle. There's nothing wrong with YOU physically. Your lifestyle, and your mind, however, must change. Otherwise there are consequences. Besides, what's your alternative? To not eat right and be healthy?"

Well I got her attention with those answers! She didn't get the typical pandering that she would normally get from family members to protect her feelings. She needed the truth, and truth is something that friends and family neither had the knowledge of or position to give.

Jane made lifestyle changes. She let go of her fears and justifications and started taking care of herself. All she needed was a good teacher to pry open her mind so that her body could follow.


"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."
~Ernest Hemingway