Apprentice – one who is learning by practical experience a trade, art, or calling.

Impostor – one who pretends to be something he or she is not.

The purpose of this post is not to place blame or cast judgment. It is to raise our awareness of ourselves. 

Recently, I showed up to a new yoga class. I put my mat down and a woman tapped me on the shoulder and demanded that I move. She said the spot was hers, had been for years, and I would have to move. It was the antithesis of yoga.

Once after a prayer class, one of my classmates must have thought that I took too long to make a lane change, he sped around me and gave me the finger. What was the point of three hours of aligning with the energy of love? He later called, not realizing it was me he’d flipped off, and tried to sell me on a self-improvement program.

Last year, in New York, I went on a silent tirade against a woman in my hotel (My Confession). Where does that leave me and all I teach, talk and write about?

We will never be perfect, the best we can do is to strive for perfection, acknowledge when we miss the mark, take responsibility, make amends, and learn each lesson. This is the way of the apprentice.

If instead, we live from our ego’s manipulative tactics: showing up at yoga so others will see us, sitting in prayer class to network and build a clientele, or miss the mark as I did, but think it’s no big deal because no one else knows; we miss out on all potential for growth and relegate ourselves to the status of an impostor.

The way to rid the world of impostors is to make sure we ourselves behave as apprentices.

~ Cynthia