TNR Happenings, January 26, 2026

Who were your teachers? For the most part, our parents were regular people who did the best they could at the time. From a biological standpoint, they were God-like and bigger than life. Our lives depended on keeping that connection alive. We would do anything we knew in the beginning to express our discontentment, from crying to fussing and going limp. As we got a couple of years under our belts, we discovered the word NO. When we reached our first crossroad, we had to individuate and become ourselves, even while we were dependent on our parents for sustenance and continued life. We need water for life, yet we can also drown in it.

The ability level, the commitment level, and the love given by parents vary wildly. Think of people your age and gender, and line them all up in a functional (strength) gym, and you will see what I mean. Some are gorilla strong, others are weak as water, and then there is everything in between. Some are strong but don’t exert effort; others are weak and struggle mightily, handicapped by a lack of strength. Very few are continually getting stronger for life. The conclusion is we all had parents or caregivers (ex: foster), but the t in teacher was a small t.

What happened as you moved outside of your home to other teachers? Teachers, friends, coaches, and partners all had a small t. Because of our programming, we accepted less than full effort almost every time. This follows us in life as we get older. Get a job, get a college degree, get someone to care for you financially, raise kids, don’t ask for what you truly want: the memes are as numerous as your small t teachers. These memes are set up by people who were small t teachers as a way of excusing their lack of effort and ability. If you attempt to smash through these memes, you will be attacked, ostracized, exiled, and ignored. During my quarter of a century of guiding doctors, I have seen an invisible orientation to life in many people: “If my teachers did not give their best effort to me, why should I give my best effort? Being a doctor is effort enough; my learning is good enough.” This quickly deteriorates into apathy, mediocrity, and accepting beige (nobody looks good in beige) as their mundane/bleak color of life.

What happens when you encounter a teacher with a capital T? Mercifully, most will settle innocently and naively for teachers with a small t. You know, the ones who will pretend to be giving you what you want without making the inner changes necessary to create space for more abundance in your life. Moving toward personal honesty is painful. The people in your life who yap in your ear or influence you continue to lower your dreams and standards with no malevolence, just out of fear and their own incapability. Most are not willing to put forth the effort or commitment necessary to really learn, not regurgitate. The physical presence of a Teacher lifts you up, perhaps for the first time in your life. This Teacher says no to your small t teachings, orientations, profit over people, dysfunctional intimate relationships, being average, being abused, etc. Most people are used to typical coaches who tell you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear.          

Our first teachers were necessarily flawed, so we could transcend them. Our parents were never designed to be without flaws, but to reinforce that we have the power to transcend programming that does not serve us. So many of us are invisibly serving the familial, religious, ethnic, or political traditions that we, not them (their race is run), pay a HUGE price for following. The following takes no courage at all. Subservience is all around us. Boldness and adventure await those who have been previously claimed by following dead-end teaching that promises much and delivers little.

Miracle Training