Posted on by Grace

When Learning Something New Seems Too Hard

Learning something new, like a language, a method, a system, a routine….can be really fun….or really aggravating.

Can’t I just know it already?

You mean I have to learn ALL THOSE WORDS in a whole different language?

This will take forever. Boring. Not worth it. Too much energy. Too hard.

Recently, you may be able to tell I’m having a little issue working with fonts in my emails here at DIY (Do It Yourself) technologies.

The font is different today than it was yesterday.

I clicked on something a couple of weeks ago and my usual format changed, without me realizing it.

Some people couldn’t actually READ Grace Notes anymore. Print too small.

So I changed it again (and that required figuring out how I changed it my accident the first time)…

…and the newer font lined up weirdly for some people, and turns out, still too small.

This one may be too big, who knows (by the way feel free to write me back and say “it works! thumbs up!” or “Noooooo!”)

I also happened, mostly by accident, to discover that the little square box thingy that pops up when people come to my website was not working.

When someone entered their email to subscribe to Grace Notes, it took them to a training program on how to make those box opt-in subscribe thingies look really awesome.

Oops.

I also learned what a “ping-back” is. I thought it was bad.

I would receive a message “you have gotten a ping-back…”

I had an image of a ping-pong ball hitting my head after I threw it, ricocheting off the ceiling, electric impulses bouncing around the computer….and the computer exploding.

But it turns out, it means someone has created a link to my Grace Notes post from their blog or website. Which can be helpful for readers.

Sometimes it appears that learning comes in small teensy baby steps.

Starting with the alphabet, for example.

One little piece at a time. One step at a time. Repeating the dance routine over and over, saying the speech, meditating for five minutes (not an hour), googling the word “ping-back” after seeing it ten times.

The only time things are really stressful, I find, is when I picture where I want to be, or what my purpose is in learning something, and think these kinds of thoughts:

  • this is going to take a loooooooooooong time to learn
  • it’s too late to become really good at this
  • that other person does it way better
  • it won’t make a positive difference in my life after I learn it
  • it’s too complicated
  • I don’t get this now, so I probably won’t get it tomorrow either
  • life should be easy and this is hard—I quit
  • I’ll just think about it some more

If I had believed these thoughts about my recovery from having a troubling relationship with food and eating, I’m not sure where I would be now.

Well, I did THINK these kinds of thoughts, but I didn’t believe them entirely, for some reason (maybe grace itself).

I was very determined, very early, to become obsession-free around my body, food and eating. I was in so much pain, with a terrible eating disorder, it felt like a matter of life or death (it was).

But with less intense desires for learning, like how to change fonts in email programs, it can be quite wonderful to question these beliefs.

Who would I be without the thought that learning all these little techy things are a waste of time, or boring, or don’t matter, or take me away from other more important ventures?

Who would I be without the thought that learning a very small, tiny little thing that appears before me as a call for an adjustment, is not fun?

I notice that all the technological details I’ve researched and learned are quite fascinating.

I turn the thoughts all around to their opposite, and consider each one, and find examples of how they are also true:

  • this is going to “give” time to me, and it’s going to “take” the perfect amount of time
  • it’s not too late to become really good at this
  • other people who do it way better are people to watch, inspirations!
  • it will make a positive difference in my life after I learn it
  • it’s not too complicated
  • I don’t get this now, but I may get it tomorrow
  • life should be hard and this is easy—I’ll keep going
  • I’ll try it!
“When someone says, I can’t do it, or, It’s too difficult, I’ll never be able to afford…I’ll never be as wise as…. I might say, ‘Oh, so this is your plan for the future. I hear you.’  The truth is that, for all you know, you can do it, it isn’t too difficult, you will be able to, etc. How can you know the future? The future isn’t here yet! Question what you are believing, open the space to ‘Can I absolutely know that it’s true? Who would I be without that thought, right here, right now?’ Turn it around to the opposite and find examples of why your can’t-do plans actually could be NOT true, for all you know.” ~ Byron Katie

Where do you dismiss in yourself what you’d really like to try, what you’d love to learn, to know about?

Much love, Grace