Many years ago, when my youngest daughter finished her first year of high school, she brought home a report card full of barely passing grades. She was bright and inventive, but she had always had difficulty in school. We spent entire evenings working on simple homework. Her brain seemed to be wired differently than most. “I can't do it anymore,” she declared, report card in hand, and her words impacted me like a dead end sign suddenly materializing through the mist on a dark night.
We tried an alternative school, and that did not work for her. Researching other options, I threw my hopes in the direction of an online high school, with me homeschooling my tenth grader, but I was far from confident of success in helping her complete her high school education.
We chose Biology as her first course...and plunged in. It was difficult for me, God's sake...how could I expect her to complete it? But she excelled...and in the process became my teacher. When she focused on one thing, she got it! And got it well enough to receive an 'A' for her effort. I began then to hear the lesson, and she teaches me still.
When I give my attention to one thing, when I corral my thoughts, and point them in a single direction, I learn...I really live...and I love with new intensity. I can, after all, only think one thought at a time, or do one thing at a time. And if I stick to that, I have a chance at doing it really well.
Makes me suspicious of multitasking!
No comments:
Post a Comment