Some of the hardest parts of life have always been the waiting.
I resented this once upon a time: I was impatient, ready to move on to the next thing or achieve the next success. Sort of like a video game: You earn the points, you get to level up.
It took me a very long time - and perhaps I am still learning - that life seldom works that way. In that sense, I have become a believer of the philosophy that success is possible and achievable, just not necessarily on our timeline. Or to put it another way, when the disciple is ready, the teacher will appear.
I offer an example.
One of the minor things I have aspired to - especially if I move to The Ranch - is to open a dojo. Partially it is for selfish reasons of course, but also because if I were to move, I would still want and need to train.
I have said nothing about this, even to The Ravishing Mrs. TB. Or to my Sensei. I train.
But over the last few weeks - thankfully, because we have changed dojos and our enrollment is increasing - Sensei has asked me to lead sections of class. My teaching technique is not as good as it should be, and I do need to improve my presentation - but I am doing it.
Suddenly, opening a dojo - and moving to The Ranch and starting all the things that I would want to start there - do not seem unachievable. I am getting the experience I need, in a way I did not anticipate.
I need only be patient.
Some wise man once said..
ReplyDelete"If you want to learn a thing well, teach it."
Jim, I completely believe it. I have experienced it many times.
DeleteAnd thanks for stopping by!
DeleteBeing patient is always the best.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed, 3IR. It is just that I am not always the best at doing the best things like that.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I have heard this as well. I studied the Seven Star Praying Mantis style of Kung Fu decades ago. "When you are ready, the teacher will appear."
ReplyDeleteI have found that some hardships were good teachers, and they came at the most appropriate of times. The Army says to embrace the suck. I think that's a Biblical perspective too. Pray for those that despitefuly use you. Perspective seems to be of extreme importance.
But it also works when we have learned something important, and are applying it. Then, opportunities open as if by magic.
Headspace is a bit foggy today, I hope that makes sense.
It does make sense STxAR. Hardships mold us in ways that greater ease does not. It is only when the steel is heated and pressed between the hammer and the anvil that it can be molded and shaped. How the steel feels about this, of course, we have no idea.
DeleteIn that sense, things like apprenticeships (or things like martial arts that mimic them) are important. It helps to learn the whole art, not just the parts we want to learn.
There are many times in my life when I have felt I was at a road block in life only to have an elegant solution tossed at me. I've often wished I could tell the past self to not worry because it would become clear but then, I'm sure if I did that I would take elegant solutions for granted when they came.
ReplyDeleteEd, One of the good things about writing a blog or journaling is that you can record these things for posterity and look back and see (and remind yourself) of them.
DeleteYou would think that, knowing this, I would worry less. Yet somewhat surprisingly, my "worry" factor has only dropped slightly.
There is a time for waiting, but all good things to not come to those who wait.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a shift in the mental process where one moves from believing a goal is unachievable, to thinking the goal is not unachievable, and then the next step is achieving your goal.
I have a partially formed theory that those who are truly gifted with a talent, rarely make good teachers because they never grasp that most students don't "get" what the teacher finds easy, without the student doing a large amount of hard work.
John - I think you are correct Sir. I too often find myself in that first category, believing that things are not achievable. I have learned I have to have small, frequent wins - which are inherently less satisfying in some respects, but more visible - in order to keep myself engaged.
DeleteI think your theory has merit. I have known incredibly gifted people who have difficulty explaining things or ways that they do things to people that are not in the same position. To them it is instinctual. That said, to be fair I have also known those who were incredibly gifted and also had the gift of being able to explain it. So maybe there are two gifts that need to be involved.
When I'm teaching and I begin to say, "It's obvious," I stop, breath, and say, "Let's look at this in a different way."
DeleteIf the student is meeting me at least halfway, and the student isn't getting it, then I have to change my teaching style.
I think that the advice, "If I can do this, you can do this," is most often terrible advice.
There is a point of skill acquisition that the majority of people will reach and then plateau.
The teacher that is both skillful, and can impart learning is a rare gem and that person is a treasure.
For myself, as I am working through "helping" to teach, what I am finding is discovering how that person learns can be a great help.
DeleteI am not a kinetic learner. At all. I have to do something thousands of times physically to learn it. I am good at audio and visual learning, and I truly believe if I can read it, I can do it.
Perhaps measured in terms of "If I can do this, you can do this"? I think many people can do things they think they cannot; what they will not be able to do is do it with the mastery that their visual images or imaginations tell them they can without significant practice - and acceptance of the plateau (which I hate).
I have had a handful of teachers such as you describe. They are indeed gems.
I firmly believe God always has a plan for us and I see this as Him working in your life.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelly. Unfortunately for God, I fear he has rough material to work with in this case...
DeleteHe can take dirt and make it LIVE. You are no hill for a Climber like that. Cooperation is key. And Leigh is spot on.
DeleteTrue STxAR. I just feel I am more obstinate than I should be about believing such things.
DeleteOh, you made me smile!!!! I recall a series of posts awhile back, where you explored your sense of wanting/needing to change your life direction. Looks like you now have a goal!
ReplyDeleteI believe it was Elisabeth Elliott who said that waiting is a form of suffering. I'm often reminded of that when patience is running thin.
Well, that completely makes me day Leigh! I have been trying to work through that, as you do rightly remember. I have done a lot of hard thinking over the last two months or so. I am a lot closer than I was.
DeleteThat is a very accurate quote (and Elisabeth Elliott would know more of that than most of us). Sadly I am rather impatient a great deal of the time. Gardening helps with that as well - if you have no patience, you will never be a gardener.
I can sit in a tree stand for days waiting for a good shot. I have taken years to finish projects I have started. I am nearing 60… and only now am I learning what patience really is.
ReplyDeleteGlen, patience manifests itself in many different ways, some of which you have described. There is the patience of waiting for a moment, the patience of working to complete something, the patience of enduring to the finish. And really, they all have to be learned - none of us seem to be born with it.
DeleteTB, you wrote, "I have said nothing about this, even to The Ravishing Mrs. TB."
ReplyDeleteAh, another husband who imagines that his wife doesn't know everything already. Keith
You are probably quite correct Keith. It is just not something I am conscious I have spoken of with her.
Delete