This title is actually a quote from A Course In Miracles. It reminds me that often what we teach others, knowingly or unknowingly in the course of everyday interactions, is in fact the very thing we need to learn ourselves. Teaching is another way of learning at a deeper level, another opportunity to gain greater understanding, because one of the hardest things to do is see ourselves and our lives clearly. It’s difficult to spot where our faults lie and acknowledge what we need to work on, it’s so much easier finding fault in someone else. This is one of the reasons why we need other people, sometimes even people we’re not so fond of, they point us in the direction that needs our attention.

The truth is we don’t learn the lesson once and then presto, we’ve got it for all times. In fact in learning there is a lot of forgetting involved. We have to keep remembering because learning comes in degrees. Re-learning or re-remembering is just knowing the same thing on a deeper level until it permeates us completely. That’s why what we know at twenty and fifty is different, it’s not that the information is so different, but we certainly are. We know more deeply and thoroughly, we’ve had more practice.

In reality we are always the student and we have endless chances to continually grow wiser. We always have the opportunity to revisit and reinterpret each life lesson on many different levels. All of these levels of learning, incorporating, and understanding do the job of expanding our awareness. More connections are made, more ah-ha moments are had, and all of these little interconnections deepen into a rare mystery. It turns out the things we know best are the very lessons that have instructed us and shifted the trajectory of our lives. They are the thoughts and ideas that resonate with us on every level and are what we need most to help us grow into the truth of who we are. They allow our mind, heart, and intuition to come into alignment and show us the deeper meaning in the ordinary events that unfold around us everyday.

Every moment we are in the classroom transforming and recreating who we are. The moments when idea and understanding come together are powerful because they reveal the bigger picture. The only question is how much are we going to take with us? How much will we let ourselves grow from the life lessons we teach and that teach us? We are lucky to have the opportunity to grab as much as we can hold, how much will that be?

I hope as much as each of us can take, and let that learning teach us that we are all teachers and we are all the lesson waiting to be learned.

kb