Monday, Nov 16, 2009

Well, another Monday. Sometimes Mondays represent a whole new beginning--a chance to start over. This is such a Monday. If you have made mistakes in the past--learn from them and try ever so hard to not repeat them--do better the next time around. No one I know ever gets anything new they try right on the first go-round (including me). Keep giving your best. Eventually, tasks will either a) get better because you have discovered where the snags are and how to fix them, or b) you will get discouraged because you haven't practiced enough to learn the task past the "new experience" stage--it still seems hard and confusing.
Everyone falls off the bicycle many times before they learn how to balance and actually ride. When you learn to play an instrument--do you automatically know how to create the beautiful sound the first time?---No--it takes practice--a lot of practice! If you buy a new pair of shoes, sometimes those shoes are so stiff and hard that they easily wear a blister on your heel or foot. But after you wear them for a while, get them wet once or twice and they shape to your foot, those blisters become but a memory and your once new, stiff, hard to wear shoes become your favorites because they fit your foot so well. That is how new concepts in Grammar, Writing and Reading feel in the beginning-stiff, hard and painful; but with practice--these new concepts become comfortable old friends--ones you can walk a mile in and never feel it. I try to give you the tools to practice enough so that the newness wears off and pretty soon it seems less difficult. Keep thinking and applying. It will come! Mrs. Francis