I caught an inspiration like you catch a cold. It's quite an akward situation when you have a runny nose (and it's leaking) and you find yourself in the bathroom shaving your legs. You know you'll have to carry it to your bedroom and let the stuff go in a tissue, of course once you have your legs smoothly shaven. However, my runny nose (and what runs out of it) is but 1% as important and precious as my inspiration. So I tensed and squeezed my eyebrows so as to focus better and store all the unexpected ideas in my memory and later on write them down. And so I did, I carried them safely to my bedroom and here I am, writing. Thank you for your attention.
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Lose in Order to Win
I'm a teacher. As a teacher, I'm sometimes asked to ask my students to do things in which I don't believe myself. Frequently it happens that I'm the initiator of a stupid and incomprehensible activity. For example, I would like to teach them (or rather, make them practise) creative writing, but at the same time time I realize how tremendously difficult it is to write sommething uncommon and original here and now.
On the other hand, that would be a challenge. Not only for them and their imagination, but also for me as the one responsible for creating the necessary atmospehere. Let them explore, develop, break the walls and fly. I'll have to try it myself. I hope I won't crash very hard.
Since I've already mentioned the word 'challenge,' I'll dwell on it for a minute or two. We need it, God, how much we need it. Students need it at school even though they keep saying "No, it's too much, we can't take it," it doesn't have to be true. The more often we, teachers, agree for their doing half of what they are able to, the lazier they become. Then, it's more difficult to convince them that it's worth the effort. To go further, adults, professionals need the challenge at work. That makes them feel sure they're constantly developing and they won't be bored. Failure? Try harder, try better. Success? Now, I'm proud of myself and ready to take other challenges and risks. Another example is taken from my experience. Namely, I took up Spanish lessons (yes, for Xth time, hope it'll end up with a certificate at last) and each lesson is a challenge for me. How come? It's obvious, I'm here to learn something I don't know, I speak a different language to people I've seen twice so far in my life and to make things worse, I'm asked about some basic information I should know, but for some reason I don't (sorry, the history of Poland). So here goes a list of things I may stumble at:
- understand correctly
- have some knowledge
- have an opinion on that
- express it and
- express it in such a way that you actually utter some words and people from the group know what you mean and accept it with, for instance, approving nods.
That would be ideal. Surely, it hardly ever is. And we should cope with it. Nonetheless, the stress and the uncertainty are good and provoke us to thinking and learning. That's what a challenge is and let's be accompanied by it throughout our life.
Now, the sad part. Sometimes we fail. We're not flawless, that's a fact. Some people fail more often than others. They seem to have exceeded the limit in failing. Yet they're no losers. As long as they have motivation and are challenged, they haven't lost yet. What I believe and am almost sure (I'll tell you later) is that failures and lost fights are inevitable if you want to accomplish a huge thing. You are somehow pushed to find the courage, check possible ways, get hurt, not come back to that place again or come back with better equipment and force. You also gain modesty, respect and wisdom. How exceptional the feeling will be when after many obstacles and letdowns you'll eventually stand on your feet and say with confidence: I lost for a moment just to win in the end.
P.S. If you happen to be confused with the photo I put in the post and the connection with the subject, please don't give it too much thought. :-)
