Bulldozer00's Blog

I was listening to an Eckhart Tolle mp3 audio the other day and he started talking about the innate tendency of people to auto-label “others” with a concept and then to expect 100% behavior compliance with that label. In his case, he was told that “you’re a spiritual teacher – you shouldn’t be drinking coffee!“. Jokingly, he said that he now wears sunglasses and a baseball cap whenever he goes to Starbucks. D’oh!

Similarly, spiritual guru “poonjaji” said that he was scolded for liking and eating ice cream. I can’t remember exactly how he handled the situation, but I’m positive that he disarmed the fault-finder with grace and wisdom.

How about you, how do you handle being labeled by someone or, more ominously, by some group(s)? I used to, and still often do, get defensive and fire a retaliatory label right back at the source. In those wonderful moments where I serendipitously catch myself fuming up, I say “thanks for your opinion“.