Learning
the Hard Way
“How to
win in life:
- work hard
- complain less
- listen more
- try, learn, grow
- don't let people tell you it can't be done
- make no excuses”
Germany
Kent
I'm trying to figure out
how to “do life” without the use of my right arm. Since the fall,
I have had to keep it still. I started out complaining loudly about
it, but then realized that was not at all helpful. So now, I'm just
trying to learn something from it. So far, it's mostly painful and
inconvenient, but I've found that with a bit of effort, I can do most
things that I did before—just awkwardly.
Isn't that the way of
things? We start out in our youth with some things being very
difficult because everything is new. We don't know how to do much
when we're twenty, so we have to learn it from scratch, which means
that someone who knows the ropes must teach us. Usually, these
teachers are older; they have experience. After a while, though, we
do learn and then we have not only fit and trouble-free bodies, but
also, strengths and abilities. We then enjoy a good stretch of time
in which we are both healthy and competent in the business of life.
But as we age, we find that we aren't as strong physically; we
sometimes need the assistance of crutches, canes, hearing aids,
reading glasses. Once again, people have to teach us how to use them
and how to navigate this new stretch of life. Interestingly, the
people teaching us this time are usually much younger than we are.
Learning and growing is and should always be a fact of life.
I won't lie to you, this
period of awkwardness and change is not something I would choose. I
prefer the “competence” stage. But I have a couple of choices—I
can sit around lamenting my bad luck, or I can see what this painful
mistake has to teach me. I choose the latter. I fell because I was
not watching where I put my feet—perhaps I will remember that, and
not make the same mistake again. Stephen Batchelor, in his book,
Buddhism Without Beliefs, says, “One of the most difficult
things to remember is to remember to remember.” We live in a
multi-sensory body but we must remember to keep all our senses
together in the present moment. It's an important lesson—trust me
on this one!
In the Spirit,
Jane
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