Recently a wonderful life coach and prolific blogger named Michelle Stimpson wrote a delightful meditation on the Law of Receptivity on her blog, Following Your Joy:
“Most of the people in my life are tremendous givers. I’ll include myself here and say that it feels good to give and it comes naturally. I don’t really have to think about it; I must be hard-wired that way.
“At the same time, I’ve always considered myself a pretty good receiver. When someone gives me a gift or a compliment, I take it all in and allow it into my heart. I feel the gratitude and appreciation and always let the other person know of the gift’s impact on me.
“But now I realize that it goes even deeper than that.…”
And she goes on to chronicle her encounters with the Fifth Law in everyday circumstances, “a day in the life” style. It’s an astute and inspiring piece of writing — we definitely recommend you read the entire thing!
As soon as I read it, I wrote to Michelle:
“You know, it’s that fifth law that people so often tell us is the tough one.
“While we were writing the book, we didn’t know that was going to come last. As we developed the story, the first four laws sort of suggested themselves, based on our experiences and observations of life, and so they became woven into the fabric of the emerging story. But we knew there ought to be five. What would the fifth one be? We were as curious as any other reader might be.
“Well, we didn’t force it, or push … just let the story tell itself in its own good time. And, lo and behold, there was a fifth — and it turned out to be the one that holds all the others together, in a manner of speaking! (The thumb to the other four fingers; the Sunday that makes the other six days make sense… choose your metaphor.”
She replied:
“I appreciate hearing about how the fifth law came about, and I love that about life — how things just kind of ‘unfold’ exactly as they’re meant to.
“One metaphor that came to mind for me was Stephen Covey’s Habit Seven: Sharpen the Saw, the habit that ties everything else together and envelops — and makes it possible for — all the other habits to come to life. Or … it could also be the awesome layer of foam that tops off a good Guinness.”
Nicely put!
At first I thought receptivity meant gratitude, but that’s only part of it, isn’t it? Because I can’t say that I was grateful to find my ex-husband’s uncle sitting in the front row at a speech I had to give, but I was certainly receptive to the lesson in poise that it gave me.
If I wasn’t willing to take something like that, as uncomfortable as it was, how would I learn to deal with it? I think of so many awkward or strained conversations I’ve had at networking events. Instead of giving up on it, I’m still receptive to having those experiences because it makes me better able to deal with them.
Maybe the gratitude comes later 🙂
Beth, I love, love, LOVE your example! 🙂
Hi Beth,
Great point! Reminds me of the idea that when “the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I, too, have worked at being open and receptive to situations – that aren’t necessarily comfortable – only to find a feeling of gratitude later for the lesson that showed up on my doorstep.
Thanks for the great insight!
I believe the fifth law is most people should learn. Most religions teach we give, give, give and give. But they seldom teach about receive.