When I began to explore what other professionals in my field could teach me, I came upon an interesting metaphor. One world-renowned coach said, Focus on bringing the lotus flower within each person you meet out of the mud.
Lotus flowers are considered one of the most beautiful flowers in the world. They’re often a symbol of spiritual unfoldment. And they only grow in mud. Sometimes, we may find ourselves stuck in mud—emotional mud, relationship mud, career mud. Coaches can and do help us get unstuck, allowing for a fuller, more visible emergence of the blossom within.
Yet this needn’t be a practice relegated to coaches, teachers, counselors and inspirational speakers. When we focus on the lotus flower within each person we meet— from listening deeply to a loved one’s story of the day or interacting briefly with a stranger in the street, we call forth Soul’s singular beauty.
There’s a wonderful story of a woman who was working in a mining operation. She had a boss whose behavior and appearance she found very hard to take. He had piercings and tattoos all over his body, and he would overpower anyone who tried to get in his way. She found him so abhorrent that she actually challenged God—show me how you live in this man! Surprisingly, she heard an inner answer in return—through his love for his son.
Shortly thereafter, the woman heard the plight of another contractor in the mine. This man’s young daughter had leukemia since age two, and now she was being given the chance to perform on stage with her favorite rock star. The performance was to take place in the man’s hometown, miles away from his place of employment. Upon hearing the news, the woman emailed her odious boss to ask if her co-worker could at least have a couple of hours off to watch his daughter on TV.
A day or two later, the boss met up with her in the break room. I’m so glad you told me about this man’s situation, he said. Of course he can have the time off. If it were up to me, I’d fly him clear across the country to be there in person. The two then got talking about the important things in life, like family. And sure enough, as the boss began speaking about his son, his manner softened and his eyes began to tear up.
When this deeper truth unfolded like the petals of a flower, the woman realized she’d had no right to judge her boss by appearances. In effect, she’d been paying attention to the mud. Her request to be shown where the lotus lived within him brought its beauty to the surface, forever changing her perspective and opening a way for him to give.