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" I A F F I R M T H A T
T O G R O W A S A
T E A C H E R , I M U S T
R E M A I N A N
A L E R T L E A R N E R."
Eric
Maisel
" N O T H I N G I S
I N T E R E S T I N G I F
Y O U A R E N O T
I N T E R E S T E D."
Helen MacInness
" S O M E B O D Y I S
B O R I N G M
E . . .
I T H I N K I T I S
M E."
Dylan
Thomas
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I am an advocate of learning from everyday life experiences. I like
the quote, "when the student is ready to learn, the teacher will appear".
If I hold the intention to learn, I pay attention to those experiences
and what they can teach me.
The title of the book put me into a retrospective journey. I have memories
of stones from my boyhood. I had a sling shot and learned quickly not
to shoot stones in the direction of the house after I broke a kitchen
window and suffered the consequences.
I hit many stones over the pasture fence using an old baseball bat and
imagining myself as my favourite baseball slugger. The bat became so
pitted and splintered from repeated contact with stones that it finally
had to be thrown away.
One day I walked down our gravel driveway to collect the mail. The driveway
was scattered with many stones of varying sizes. One stone stood out
because of its irregular shape and multi-colours. It was very pretty.
I have always had a good imagination and I immediately saw the stone
as being a precious gem with magical powers. The grove of trees by the
driveway became an army of barbarians intent upon stealing the precious
gem.
I would be the hero! I would protect that very special stone and prevent
the barbarians from gaining magical powers that they would only use
to evil ends. I felt a surge of strength knowing that "right" was on
my side.
I blasted those poor trees with stone after stone, sometimes picking
up whole handfuls and hurling them all at once in order to hit as many
trees as possible. I imagined the groans of pain as countless barbarians
crumpled into the dust.
After the dust, and the leaves, finally settled, I surveyed the field
of battle with great satisfaction. I had, indeed, saved the day as well
as the precious stone. I had crushed the enemy single-handedly.
I thought it best to take that stone and put it in a special and very
safe place. I reached to pick it up, my hand flexing into a grip that
anticipated the hardness of a stone. To my horror, the "stone" oozed
through my fingers and I immediately realized what it was. A chicken
had been pecking away on the driveway that morning.
An important lesson about learning is that it keeps you humble.
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