Oh The Joy Of Learning
And the pain of mistakes
Oh the joy of learning!
I say that a little tongue in cheek - no I correct myself - very much tongue in cheek because I dislike intensely getting things wrong.
Making mistakes is a step I want to skip over in everything I do.
My tiny mind, the one that is entrained by my past experiences, sees mistakes as embarrassing, as humiliating, reasons to be ridiculed and judged. Mistakes create a lot of pain in my consciousness and dwelling on that pain leads to alot of suffering. The evolution of my work, my practise, my capabilities gets stunted and stuck in this place of suffering.
”Pain is inherent, suffering is optional” - a quote generally attributed to Buddha - is, regardless, a great way for me to understand that life is painful but my relationship and my dwelling on that pain is what makes it suffering.
So to those greats like Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs who experimented, tried and failed, tweaked and adjusted and embraced mistakes as, well, just that - miss-takes. I took on board a couple of months ago a choice to experience the joy of learning. It has been an act of will. The pain is still there, the analogy of going through a bramble hedge comes to mind, thorny and scratchy but there is light and juicy blackberries along the way. I am noticing that when I am being with the pain of a mistake and let go of any meaning, there is JOY in learning and I can see and feel progress.
In particular I am noticing the amount of energy I can easily waste in trying to avoid the pain of mistakes and trying to find another way round the 'bramble hedge'. I am observing that learning creates success not finding the right way!
#observations #learning #crossingfrontiers #SteveJobs #Buddha #painisinherent