Don't Get Stuck in Someone Else's Mud

Years ago, I dashed in to see my mentor, flustered by the challenges I was facing with a coworker. In great detail, I described the situation, sharing some of the ugly things that had been said to me. When I was finished, I waited. I was awaiting what amounted to her consolation and maybe even her sympathy. Yet to my surprise, my mentor’s response was the exact opposite.  She said in her quiet, yet direct voice, “Why did you get stuck in someone else’s mud?”

I looked at her, speechless, digesting her response and pondering her question – both were so far from what I wanted to hear.  I took a deep breath to give over my disappointment to her response and slowly answered, “I don’t know what you mean. This person said these things to me… how dare they…why would they?”

Then, somewhere, in my defensive banter, my mentor waved her hands and interjected, “Why did you get stuck in their mud?” 

“We are all humans,” she said. “We all have different emotions, feelings, experiences, uncertainties and purposes.  So the question becomes, why did you respond the way you did? Why are you getting stuck in the mud, when you can be doing what you were called to do? Why are you allowing someone else’s negative comments to influence you? Have you lost your way?”

The message was loud and clear. It was so obvious. In life, we will have many ups and downs. We will face many challenges, yet if we remain true to what we believe in and find joy in all things, we can avoid “getting stuck in someone else’s mud.”  

The more we choose to trust in our heartfelt dreams, the easier it is to jump clear over the mud and spend more time on the beautiful grassy knolls of our life’s journey.