May 8, 2007

Change the World: Learning to Learn

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:55 am

Head and Heart Open Wide

Change the World!

Gaizabonts writes so well. I can’t help but read him. It’s really more like listening and seeing. Sometimes I stay for a while to read the same piece over and over . . . the way a small child might take in a favorite tale.

It’s not just the writing. It’s the truth and the wisdom. This thought about learning has been with me since yesterday.

The tool can do only as much as the skill allows. The skill can be honed, only as much as the mind can train. The mind can train only as much as the heart believes.

Each of us has blind spots, those places in which we’ve placed a fence on our growth. One of mine for the longest time was that I didn’t know how to learn by being taught. I learned by watching and by following my curiosity.

When I needed to learn something that required lessons, I was sure I couldn’t do it. I would get stuck. I would freeze, imagining the universe watching, imagining me failing miserably. Maybe that’s why I became a teacher — so that I could learn with no one watching.

In all of these years, I’ve taught many people — people of every age. I’ve taught so many kinds of things. I met many folks who believed that they could not learn some simple thing.

I can’t draw a straight line . . .

I’ll never be good at folding shirts . . .

Even simple numbers confound me . . .

Just last week, someone said, “I have faith that other people can . . . ”

Why do we do that? Why do we believe more in other people than we do in ourselves?

I never met one person for whom I believed all of their limits were true, yet I’ll argue until Sunday why mine are. Sure as I’m sitting here, I can see the fallacy and the loss there.

Why was I afraid to admit to not knowing for that moment? It was a scary thought on some level — It sounded like what if I try and I don’t learn? Now I so value the beginner’s mind. Teachers are everywhere.

I have lost nothing. I’ve gained a lot.

The world is so much more exciting when there is so much more to learn.

I’ve learned that trying didn’t fail me. I am learning to learn.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

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Filed under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog |



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7 Comments to “Change the World: Learning to Learn”

  1. May 8th, 2007 at 8:57 am
    BrainBasedBusiness said

    5 Top Ways to Jumpstart Your Brain in the Morning…

    Feel sluggish or want to punch out those high pitched demands that come with the alarm … too early in the morning?  it’s likely because you're attempting to start another workday without fully waking your brain. Sound familiar? Ma…

  2. May 8th, 2007 at 9:48 am
    Robert Hruzek said

    The toughest boundaries of all to overcome are the ones we set for ourselves. After all, we think, who’s a greater authority on ourselves than… ourselves!

    Ah, but strangly enough, many times, we DON’T know ourselves best. Ironic, huh? And to me, that is one of the greatest benefits of real friendship - they help us see ourselves better!

    Thank God for friendships!

  3. May 8th, 2007 at 10:14 am
    ME Strauss said

    HI Robert!
    What a great insight you make — i f we look inside we should be able to see our own truth. Our friends ARE the best mirror that we have to test what we believe and to let us know when are trying to fool ourselves and the world too.

    Lessons learned keep coming back and coming back again. Maybe one day they will stick. :)

  4. May 13th, 2007 at 9:27 am
    Galba Bright said

    Hello Liz:

    I think that this is a very insightful post. I can relate to the need to let go of inhibiting thought patterns and behaviour. By consciously unlearning certain habits I’ve been able to become more productive and fulfilled. IMHO friends can be a tremendous help, but self-knowledge (I don’t mean arrogance)trumps everything. Even our best friends don’t always understand the passions that drive us. Hence they can’t fully grasp the full range of our potential.

    Deep down we know what we can and should do. As Edison said “if we knew all the things that we are capable of, we would literally astonish ourselves” The journey continues and I wish you the best in yours.
    Your writing always leaves me with a powerful, insightful paradox. Today’s is your take on why you became a teacher.

  5. May 14th, 2007 at 4:43 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Galba,
    Gosh, how do I respond to such a beautitful comment?

    I bookmark it so that I come back and read it as often as I can so that I never forget the wise words that you left for me. Thank you.

    I can’t say enough how much joy there is to be found in Edison’s statement and how much more there is in sharing it. Watching someone become truly amazed at his or her own potential is an incredible, inspiring, and life-lifting experience. It’s 1% investment and 99% return for everyone. It makes the world more than 3-dimensional.

    Just look at what you wrote and how I feel when I read it. :)

  6. May 24th, 2007 at 7:03 am
    How Has Blogging Changed You? | Middle Zone Musings said

    [...] I have been seeing a lot lately about how blogging can change the world. In fact, Liz Strauss even has a specially-named series of posts for it (her Change the World series). I like the concept [...]

  7. June 25th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
    Blogging Being « Gaizabonts said

    [...] however, is mostly expression. An otherwise delinquent thought becomes a well-behaved angel and sits smartly in a post. And a million such, together create that wonderful experience that is not the author; the blog is [...]

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