When you're learning something new, don't you just envy the people who make it look so easy? It doesn't matter if it's a skill like knitting or a game like hockey, their years of experience give them confidence to do unconsciously well what takes our supreme effort to do poorly.
My husband, Tom, taught his hockey team that there are 4 levels of learning a new skill:
1. Unconscious Inability - You don't know what you don't know
2. Conscious Inability - Now you know what you don't know
3. Conscious Ability - You have to really work at being able to do it
4. Unconscious Ability - Now you can do it well without even thinking about it
It occurred to me that this sports lesson is perfectly applicable to almost anything in life, even our home lives. We all start out fumbling with operating washing machines and diapering wiggly babies. It's tempting to look at women who have been at it longer and think we'll never make it look that easy.
But I've learned that if you keep after something long enough, it does get easier. The trick is in not giving up before you get to the level of Unconscious Ability. Parenting, marriage, home-management, cooking....they are skills that get better with time and repeated effort.
Today's Small Thing is to practice flying. What are you learning to do well? Preparing a nice meal, folding a load of clothes right from the dryer, being patient with your children, organizing your day, or having personal devotions might be some things you're working on. Why, what a coincidence! Those are all on MY list!
Or maybe you're learning to fly as a single parent, as a new mom, or at a new job. Major life changes will require extra time to be able to soar. Don't give up before you succeed! Just keep flapping!
POINTS: 40 for consciously learning to fly in some small way today, (a craft or new skill...you choose)
Let us know: In what areas are you learning to fly and what level are you working through? Add 10 points for sharing! (That's point frosting on the cake!)
