Tag: learning

Being and Doing

Jennifred Jones

Is what I am doing what I am being or becoming?

We humans are pretty easy to train. We get an idea in our mind and then think about it and eventually we’ll act about it if we think it long enough.

The ‘be’ generally comes before the ‘do’. When we want to change something in our life, we think how/who we want to be and then begin to do who we want to be. It can take a lot of thinking and pondering to get it into our head that we can become what we want to become, but we are trainable. We think the thought – make the plan – get a vision. Then begin to act on the thought.

It’s like learning to read. We see the letter, hear how it’s pronounced, then we practice pronouncing. In time and after practice, we become a reader, and the more we practice and read the stronger we become in learning new words and reading.

As we ‘be’ in our minds and hearts what we want to ‘do’ in our lives, then before long we’ll be doing what we want to be, and we’ll become what we wanted to do.

Words

Jennifred Jones

Words are a platform.

A platform can be stood upon like a stage for a performance. A platform is made to hold materials and workmen while building a house. A platform can be the floor of a tent a camper or a chicken coop. A platform is what allows people to get off and on trains, busses and planes. The platform is a means of support.

It can be built quickly with not much to it or built to last a long time. It can be raised or lowered. It can be taken apart and rebuilt.

Some platforms are made of stone and last for decades.

How does this apply to my words?

Will my words, (what I say) support me and my family and friends? Will they help them stand, or will my words be weak and cause them to fall. Will my words be solid enough for them to hold onto during stormy life times? Will my words raise a platform of hope and encouragement?

We cannot see words after they’re said, however, they can still ring in people’s ears days, years, decades later. Many are still being heard centuries later – passed on by word of mouth or in writing.

Everybody is talking, saying something now-a-days. They want to be heard, noticed, listened to.

I want to examine my platform…my word platform. Do I have the right kind of materials to build it. Do I need to find some better type lumber? Will I use particle board or solid planks? Will I pick a beautiful board or will any old crooked, knotty board do? Will I use cheap nails that bend when driving them or use steel screws to hold my message together? Will I make the framework sturdy to hold the weight of truth and good, or will it be flimsy and anyone can rip it to shreds.

Will my words bring clarity, stability, comfort, and hope for another person?

We can do this folks. Yes, it will take some effort and maybe new learning, but there’re lots of lives that just need some place secure to stand while they put themselves back together.

Can they stand securely on your platform? Can I stand on mine?

I Can’t…

Jennifred Jones

Saturday morning at the ice-rink a boy about 7 years old kept falling down.

The instructor would help him up and he’d fall again. When she got him up he only wanted to hold on to her. He didn’t want to try to stand or skate alone.

I could see the look on his face. Total frustration, almost red-faced anger at his young age. The instructor would help him time and time again – even getting down on the ice and showing him how to position his feet and legs so he could get up by himself like all the other young skaters were. Everyone was falling down and eventually getting back up all by themselves. This little boy was not really trying. He’d look like he tried to get up and then fall again and squirm until someone came to ‘help’ him. The instructors were looking back and forth at each other wondering how many times to ‘help’ him – when he would not help himself. He was not incapable – just not-capable because of his thinking. Somewhere along the way, he had given in to the ‘I can’t’ mentality. I imagine it was more than just on the ice.

The reason I could see it so clearly is that had been me at different times in my life…Algebra and math. I just ‘couldn’t‘ (I thought). Or meeting new people. I was too shy (unwilling to step out of my security box). I put off learning computers for years – thinking it was a passing fad. ‘I can’t‘ trying to rule me again.

Many times, teachers have learned…allow the student to struggle until they are hungry enough to learn. Then they will.

Back to the boy on the ice. He wasn’t ready to learn. Not yet. Give him a little more time, or maybe find something else he is interested in. Don’t nurture the ‘I can’t’.

In our mind, if we will remove the ‘t‘, it will spell, ‘I can‘. The first step is begin to recognize all our ‘I can’ts’

Where can I begin today?