By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
When I was in high school in New York, I was required to take a chemistry class as part of the curriculum. There was a lesson where we were asked to take a few drops of acid from a beaker and deposit it on something. I remember all the bubbles and foam I dropped until the acid accomplished its goal of eating away at the item.
Most of us have an excess of acid in our bodies that eats us from the inside.
Maybe you gave up on the interview that you weren’t good enough or worthy, and didn’t believe in yourself. You might be tempted to adopt a “fake it ’til you make it” strategy, but when you think about it, it might temporarily slow down the drip, but it doesn’t make it stop.
Maybe you drop “nice” or “people should recognize me for what I do for them” or “they are all idiots and can’t compare to me”.
Maybe your pet peeve is the recruiter who puts a damper on your day every time they approach you for a job opportunity.
All of these are corrosive attitudes that always lead others to fail to meet our expectations and turn us against them or ourselves.
I remember working at an agency a few years ago and the acid of jealousy consumed me, causing me to badmouth my colleagues both within myself and outside the company, poisoning my attitude. All they do is flip unfiltered resumes to clients, or ask everyone to do their job so they can fill the vacancies, while management fires and replaces many of the people who failed to fill the vacancies. He was a hero, but he also caused a lot of collateral damage, leaving a lot of people out of work and high overhead costs.
Many of you know the story of young Siddhartha sitting under the Bodhi tree while Mara, possibly tempting evil descriptions (such as doubt, lust, greed, etc.) tried to adversely affect his meditation. No matter how hard they tried, Siddhartha remained calm in the face of such temptations.
The Mara left, but returned periodically. Siddhartha, now the Buddha, would calmly say, “I see you.”
Naming our acid or poison goes a long way in counteracting the effects it has on us. He would then invite them to tea and sit down, treating Mara as an honored guest rather than someone to fight with.
I’m reminded of a process I’ve facilitated many times through an international men’s group called The Human Project. In this process, we have people walking behind them and people walking right behind them, representing their shadows, the parts of them that they hide, repress, and deny. The shadow imitated their every move, but because the shadow was like the Buddhist Mara, it tripped the leader and they fell to the ground.
They stood up again and started walking forward until their shadows tripped them up again. In this process, as in life, it is only when we are able to look our shadow in the eye and say, “I see you,” that we begin to eliminate its power.
As you continue your acid trip, what do you need to see clearly and what shadows do you need to bring into the light that corrupt your success and ultimately happiness.
© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2015, 2023
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