When we go to someone for guidance - are we open to hearing it?

I recently had an experience with a client that was disturbing, eye-opening and liberating at the same time. I value the confidentiality agreement I assure my clients about, so I won't go into any details here. Suffice it to say that this person (bless his heart) was not in a very "open" position to take anything else in.

I discussed this with a colleague a little later, in a mentoring session. And this lovely story came out that made such sense to me. And might help you along the way, too. I'm paraphrasing.

"The person we go to for help, guidance or support, has a teapot in their hand. Their only job is to pour tea from the teapot. The person who seeks the guidance, help or support, comes with a teacup in their hand. Their job is to hold the teacup under the spout of the teapot.

A person can either hold their empty teacup right-side up, in which case the pouring tea can flow into the empty teacup. Alternatively, a person can hold their empty teacup upside down - in which case the tea runs down the sides, and spills onto the floor. Where it's useless to the seeker."

The Expert

Another version of this story, goes like this: (I quote from www.prairiewindzen.org/emptying_your_cup.html because it's beautifully written)...