Recently, I have been having discussions with my adorablescent. How much does one push one self? How far does one leap in faith, in order to better oneself? When does one go with the flow, and when does one push for more? In his wisdom, he pushed me, further and further, to prove my point of how one did not need to break barriers by “striving”, or “doing the hard yards”. Now, I am by no means advocating that one does not learn, practice, and do. What I am questioning is the philosophy of “no pain no gain” that has become the truism that everyone bows to all around me. These discussions with my adorablescent have petered out each time I have felt my ire rising, and I have shut up, not wanting to pursue a conversation in which I was unable to hold my own. My irritation was not at his persistence of the “you need to push yourself over the edge in order to improve” philosophy. Rather, I was facing my own demons, as my ingrained belief struggled with my learned understanding.
Multiple papers have been written about how learning has to be “fun” in order to occur, and the research today continues to strengthen the theory. Yet, I still do struggle to convert my yogic understanding of “let the asana do the work for you” (Thank you Yoga Adam for putting the words to my idea) to allowing the adorablescent to have a day off right in the face of exams, if he is too tired to study. He was not arguing with me, he was regurgitating what I had taught him, through my actions. As had the world around him.
I so need to read my own article.
Thank you, my dear one, for another chapter well taught.
Image credit: http://msxats.blogspot.com.au/2013_07_01_archive.html
Adorablescents 