I’m sure that most everyone reading this blog has met someone and recognized that the knowledge, wisdom, and expertise they possess flows freely through them and out of them to others. And in addition, it seems that the more they allow it to flow out of them, the more energized they become, which in turn energizes the people they are with or around?
On the flipside, I’m sure most of you have at one time or another run into someone who, while they may possess a high degree of knowledge and/or expertise in something, is unwilling to share it with others. They, for whatever reason, choose to keep it to themselves.
The first type of individual is what I refer to as a “conductor,” which is defined as “a substance, body, or device that readily conducts, or allows heat, electricity, sound, or energy to flow through it.” The second type of person is what I call a “container,” which can be defined as “a receptacle that holds something in it.”
As a martial arts teacher one of my primary goals to help get the people I work with excited about the subject and to explore it on their own. One of the ways I can do that is to share my knowledge, experience, and expertise with them. While I know that I cannot give them my feeling for the art because that is very personal and something that they have to develop on their own, I can definitely share the excitements and enthusiasms of my own learning. And I do so openly and honestly, not standing aloof from them in some sort of revered authoritative position, but rather walking shoulder-to-shoulder with them, traveling the same path, encouraging their enthusiasm and passion.
Your body and/or mind might be filled with some form of knowledge or skill, but if you’re unable or unwilling to share that knowledge or skill with others, you simply become a storehouse of information, a container. On the other hand, if you let it move freely through you and share your knowledge and skills with others without expecting anything in return, you will become a conductor. Why not make the choice to be a conductor rather than a container, a conductor of knowledge, a conductor of energy, a conductor of enthusiasm, a conductor of love or compassion? Be a conductor, not simply a container.