About Mentoring

I began as a child, practicing on unsuspecting travellers in airports during the hours I awaited my father's return from work. Back then, I didn't know that people needed to be open to inner remodeling. However, being a child, my impetuousness was granted a certain latitude which may have landed an adult with a broken jaw.

One such afternoon, I watched a man smoking and joking with his three companions. I "saw" that he had a deep fear stemming from his mother's anxiety, and his corded attachment to her--which led him to desire smoking. I also "saw" that smoking could kill him. I didn't want him to die, and, I was afraid to break my mother's rule to "keep my rear in the chair." After thinking it through, I decided that this stranger's life was worth more than my punishment of up to one-half hour facing a wall. I waited for my mother to turn her back long enough for me to sneak away. The moment quickly arrived. I unseated myself, scurried across the aisle and stood in front of the three men, waiting respectfully for any of them to notice me. When they didn't, I said, "Excuse me sirs, I'm sorry to interrupt." When all three turned to focus on me, I looked at the man who was smoking and said, "I have a question. Why do you smoke?" His buddies laughed, the man paused and said, "I don't know." I just looked at him. "But why do you smoke?" I repeated. And he looked at his shoes and said, "Because I like it I guess." "It could kill you; I don't want you to die," I said. "It's not going to kill me," he said. "I hope not," I said, turned on my heels and made a beeline to my assigned seat for interrogation.

Today, I'm far more skilled and tactful. And people come to me.