If you are anything like me (you have to have your coffee in the morning), you welcome the advice of others who are more knowledgeable than you are. That's one thing I like so much about the Y. What would we do without the expert trainers they hire to persecute mentor their clients? That's true with all of life, isn't it? The classes I teach, the books I write, the sermons I give, the life I (hopefully) model to my students, are all the direct result of people who have poured their lives into mine and have passed on to me what I am now passing on to others. In fact, it's kinda comical that newbies in the gym are actually asking ME for advice! That's scary. But at some point you go from being the trainee to the trainer.
In 44 years plus of teaching, I've done my fair share of mentoring. Webster defines "mentor" as a "wise and trusted guide and adviser." Life is filled with relationships that require us both to be mentored and to mentor. Otherwise, nobody grows and improves. As a result of being trained/mentored at the Y, I am becoming a person who feels comfortable in giving advice to others. Through mentoring we learn how to take what we've been taught and use that knowledge to help someone else.
If you have been blessed to have mentors in your life, don't ever take them for granted. We humans don't need a set of principles to guide us so much as another person who will show us how to practice what we know -- someone who will stand beside us, believe in us, guide us, and model Christ for us.
Today, whatever else you do, set a pattern that others will want to follow. Look for opportunities to build into others' lives. We all need others to share our burdens and help us to keep on running OUR race.
