Everyone is an Oracle
I am always open to anything anyone tells me. It doesn’t matter if you are someone I love and respect or someone who pushes my buttons and makes me angry. I always like hearing what you have to say… well maybe not right away, but in the end, it’s always awesome.
This is because I treat everyone like they are an oracle which means that they aren’t necessarily saying the truth. They are simply saying what I need to hear in that moment.
The Matrix
One of my favourite scenes from the Matrix is when Neo goes to visit the oracle:
Neo: And [the oracle] knows what, everything?
Morpheus: She would say she knows enough.
Neo: And she’s never wrong.
Morpheus: Try not to think of it in terms of right and wrong. She is a guide. She can help you to find the path.
The oracle of course told him that he was not “the one” who would save the world. Deep down, we know as the viewer that she can’t be right! He has to be the one. Why would she say that? He HAS to be “the one”!
Later Neo tries to tell Morpheus what the oracle said… But Morpheus interrupts him and says: “She told you exactly what you needed to hear, that’s all. Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”
When our Friends are “Right”
If a friend makes a comment about what we are doing, the only thing that matters is our reaction to what they say. What they say and who they are don’t make any difference. All that matters is what our mind does with it.
Perhaps our mind rests as soon as they say something. We were hoping that someone else saw things the same way. We already knew the truth about our path. And when someone else says what we secretly hoped, something deep inside says “Oh good, I’m not crazy”.
Or maybe the other person says something we don’t like at all. We find it insulting. We take it personally. It makes us angry.
This is also important because the truth is one of two things. The first option is that what they are saying is true. But we don’t want to look at it. Perhaps we know that we are in an abusive relationship but we are very busy telling ourselves (and everyone else) that everything is fine. And then someone calls us out on it. We will be defensive… but not because they are wrong, because they are right and we are struggling to accept that truth and the next steps that we need to take.
When our Friends are “Wrong”
The second option is that when they say something, we rise up in battle against what they said. Sometimes this happens because we needed a fire lit inside of us so that we would actually fight for what we truly want.
It could even be like being in the abusive relationship. Perhaps a well-meaning friend says things like “You know what, we all have issues. You just need to have some compassion for your partner and what they’ve lived through in life. It could be worse. Why do you think you should have more anyway? They’re probably the best you’re gonna get anyway.”
Well, this might just be the fuel you need to fight against those ideas. They might just give you the fire to say “NO! I do want more. I shouldn’t be abused. I want out!!
Or it could be about following your dreams. Maybe you’re surrounded by people who think your dreams are crazy or unreasonable. Maybe they think you should just do what other people do, or what they are doing.
Listening to these people might just make you angry enough to break out of whatever box your fears have put you in. It might make your soul scream a little louder and this might catapult you into a whole new world.
It’s Never About Them
We must always be careful when we hear ourselves saying “Can you believe they said that? Who do they think they are?” What is even more dangerous is when we continue these thoughts to start badmouthing them and explaining why they are wrong, insensitive and ignorant people. This is really important because they have obviously hit on something within that we don’t want to look at. Focusing on why they are horrible people just lets our mind distract us from what we really need to be looking at.
The truth is that they are just messengers. They are delivering a message to us that can help you find OUR truth.
Sometimes, what we are told acts like a light ahead on the path that leads us forward. And sometimes, we are told things that we have to fight against to get us back on track.
It’s a beautiful thing to be able to hear anything anyone has to say, knowing that it’s all there to help us.
No more worrying about what others think or being insulted by their view of the world.
It’s all there to help us stay on track… or to find our path in the first place.
