YOU CAN'T WHAT?

 

“My body wasn’t the problem;

my thoughts and beliefs were.”

Anne Poirier

 

No matter who we are, we cannot learn ‘every skill’ under the sky. We can learn ‘only some’… We can hone them well to become even experts in them… to be hailed by people - “Fine hands.”

And, as we become experts in some of these skills, we do not bother to learn many other skills. Often, we try to… But, our lack of motivation, soon, makes us give up…

True, where there is will, there is certainly a way. Whatever skills I have mastered in my life, invariably, are those where I have applied my strong will…

I was miserably bad in Public Speaking and communicating (both, written and spoken) in English. But, because I wanted to become a fine teacher – where I dreamt of teaching Accounting subjects in English language, and because I wanted to write well, too, in English – yes, I found the necessary will to overcome my ‘problems’…

It became clear to me, at a young age, that the motivation to master a skill – and overcome my problems – had to be propelled by the fire of my dreams…

Yes, our dreams drive us to master every skill that we want to master…

Somewhere, somehow, I never connected driving, swimming, dancing, singing, etc., to my own dreams. So, they got left out… I just stood on the sidelines and admired those who swam, drove, danced and sang superbly…

Despite being reminded constantly, that driving and swimming can be our ‘life skills’ – I just did not place them in my list of priorities…

“It’s okay,” I hear these gentle words inside me…

“An excuse,” I hear some of my well-wishers, reminding me, bluntly.

And, like many others around me, some skills, I have learnt out of sheer necessity, when situations had forced me to… Like: cooking, doing dishes, washing clothes… and there are a few more…

I haven’t yet learnt swimming (even though there is a swimming pool in our housing society); I haven’t yet learnt driving (even though I could afford to own a car); I haven’t yet learnt to dance (even though I have feet); I haven’t yet learnt to sing and play so many outdoor or indoor games, leave alone martial arts, sky or scuba diving… There is a whole lot of things, I haven’t just bothered to learn…

Why am I ‘exposing’ my flawed side, here?

As a teacher, my world is surrounded by young kids… And, every day, I find myself trying to drill into their heads the need to stay self-motivated… I keep telling them about how I learnt to do so in order to achieve my dreams… “The key is to find your dreams, and accordingly identify the skills needed to achieve them,” I tell them, “ Remember, you needn’t master every skill under the sky… But, some,  you need to.”

As a teacher, I, also, come across, many parents, who encourage their young ones to be curious, take risks and explore. Kids need that trust and gentle push. On the other hand, I, also, come across many parents, especially mothers, who remain overprotective and over concerned about their young ones’ learning abilities… “What if he/she fails?” … yes, this message, once the young one picks up, the self-confidence simply beings to wane…

Well, ‘waning’ of self-confidence of young ones reminds me of the Hollywood’s tough man, Late John Wayne, teaching this six-year-old how to swim…  and the little boy’s mother how to run!

I started this Post by saying, “No matter who we are, we ‘cannot learn’ every skill under the sky.” After watching the woman run, I wish to stand corrected: “We can… though we needn’t.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixabay 1. DanaTentis 2. ainuddinchalik

 

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