Go at your own pace but show up.

Some people run marathons. Some people can bench press 250 pounds. Today, I am just happy that I was able to do 24 angled push-ups (three sets of eight) in my clap push-ups challenge and walk 2 miles without a cane.

A couple of weeks ago I could do no more than three sets of five push-ups, and I was walking with my cane pretty much everywhere.

To me, diligence is key. So is consistency. Whatever it is we are trying to do if we show up, day in and day, out we will eventually progress. Even if in the moment it feels like we're walking backwards, at least, we're still walking. 

Every single thing that happens to us ends up being some sort of learning experience, I think. Most especially the things that cause us the greatest challenges end up being our greatest teachers. So, my questions for you are these. How are you going challenge yourself today? What goal post will you set for yourself? How will you thrive?

My challenge remains to keep getting stronger, more fit, happier, healthier, more productive, and more active in the causes I support. If your challenge is similar, let me know. After all, we're all in this together.

Today's Tarot: Eight of Pentacles (study, learning, details)

Today's Tarot: Eight of Pentacles.

(study, learning, details)

You know that old saying that the Devil is in the details? That's absolutely the case today. Pay close attention to the details. Read, reread, and then re-reread everything. Make sure you have a clear picture of the exact situation in which you find yourself.

Another that is appropriate for today: Trust but verify (it even rhymes, in Russian).

There are things you need to learn, information you don't yet know, so trusting that you have the lay of the land is premature. Allow today to be a day of finding out, or at least of laying the groundwork for doing so. That way if/when you bite off more than you can chew, you will at least know just how much "trouble" you're in.

Oh, and if you've been thinking of taking a class, going back to school or educating yourself somehow, today is the perfect day to start.

Learn (to) Find Joy (in) Solitude

Eight of Pentacles (reversed), Ten of Cups, The Hermit

Sometimes, we think we know it all and other times we realize just how much else we have to learn. This week's cards give a little of both. Here we go...

The Eight of Pentacles is the card of the student. This doesn't necessarily mean going to school in the formal way, though it can. It can also mean keeping ourselves open to learning what the world around us has to teach us. If I use my own life as an example, I am one of the least zen people you will ever meet. I have little tolerance for either being put down or seeing others get put down, and I have no tolerance whatsoever for deliberate cruelty. If you are being deliberately cruel either to me or in a situation where I am a witness, be prepared to be called out on it. Life is too short to waste feeling bad because of someone else's thoughtless words or actions. So, the Eight of Pentacles tells us that either we need to learn the lesson of chilling out and not taking what other people say so seriously (the more zen way) or we need to learn the lesson standing up for ourselves (the not-so-zen way [and yes, I know I'm over-simplifying zen here. So, please don't rake me over the coals here.). Either way, the lesson is ours. Someone well versed in zen might say something along the lines of, we each have a path full of lessons. How do we know that the person who is being put down isn't supposed to learn the lesson of how to respond to these words or more importantly how to practice detachment from the harsh words of others? We don't know, but that isn't the point. Often, the only thing we do know is that in the moment, our feelings (or others' feelings) are hurt and we need to deal with immediate situation. Practicing detachment comes later. Monday or Tuesday of this week you will get an opportunity to practice detachment from someone's thoughtless words. Try, really try to remember that they have no real clue what they are saying. Treat them like a "me now" five-year-old and it will be much easier to handle.

Wednesday and Thursday will bring a blossoming joy. The Ten of Cups provides us with an opportunity to just enjoy the heck out of ourselves (particularly at home or with family). At first, it won't seem like fun, but trust me, once you get into it, it will be. Here's another tidbit from my own life. A few months ago, I attended a convention. I was seated at dinner next to someone I didn't know but I had seen him present on a topic at the convention. He was not a good presenter. He tried but did not really know how to connect with us; he didn't seem like someone you could easily talk to. And remembering that, I felt hesitant to sit next to him. I had already prejudged him and that would be to my shame because holy moly, he was fabulous! Once we got to talking, it turned out that we had a ton a in common, similar backgrounds, a deep mutual interest in folk and ancient musical traditions, and mythology. We had a fantastic and enjoyable conversation and I look very forward to seeing him again at the next convention in December. So, when the opportunity comes, even if it seems like it won't be all that, do it, go for it, try it. You'll like it.

Friday and Saturday will bring some time for repose. Take it! The Hermit provides the opportunity for solitary pondering. And you need it. Heck, we all need it. We all need down time in order to find out, well, just about everything. Want to know your next step? Spend time daydreaming. Want to know which way to go? Spend time reviewing your options. Granted, you could talk it over with others, but that will likely shush the voice that is most important in this scenario. And that's your inner voice. That's the one that most needs to be heard. Spend time in solitude and you will hear it. Once you know the path, you get to go do it. And that is just fabulous.

Ouch! you stepped on my feeling toe!

You who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by. CSN had it goin' on with those lyrics. And not only that, but that whole learn from your mistakes thing is a great idea for today. The cards are: Page of Swords, Hierophant, and Six of Cups. So, today is going to be about editing, self-editing. Have you learned from the last bit of chaos that swept through your life? If so, what did you learn? Figure it out. Write it down. Learn from it. If you didn't learn, then that exact same set of crud is going to seep into your life like a flooding basement. It'll come on little cat feet, and it will kick your butt. So, take the time today, be that person who steps back and looks at past errors and then learns from them.

Some of this stuff we were supposed to have learned when we were kids. "If you borrow it, give it back." "If you took it out, put it away again." If you stepped on someone's toes, say you're sorry, and if you hurt someone's feelings, do the same. That last one was mine so it's not a quote, but I find it oh so true. So often, if we hurt someone physically, say we step on someone's toe, it's absolutely easy to see we've done it and absolutely automatic to apologize. The apology is accepted and we all move on, acknowledging the accidental ouch. But, when we step on someone's emotional toe (go with me, here) why then everything gets much tougher. For one thing, we don't always know we've done it. Most of the time, when we physically step on someone's toe, we get an indication. We get an, "Ouch!" The same doesn't hold true for feelings. I believe most of us haven't been taught that it's okay to express those feelings as immediately as an "Ouch!" But oh a more honest world we'd live in if we did.

So, I'm giving you a three-part mission today. First, learn from your mistakes. Second, if you step on someone's emotional toe, say you're sorry. Third, and this is the biggie, if someone steps on yours, don't brush it off. Don't bury it. Instead, say, "Ouch! that hurt," and see where it gets you. The people who love you will want to know and will want to honor your feelings, and likely apologize. The people who don't want to acknowledge that they've hurt you, well, then you have a ton more information about them than you did just seconds before. And that brings us right back to learning from our mistakes. Are you in a pattern where your feelings aren't being respected? If so, your mission becomes more and more clear. Today will be the day to stand up for yourself and do something about it. It might hurt some in the moment, but boy will be better for you in the long run.

Learning and Curiosity, where did it go and how do we get it back?

Today, I learned a valuable lesson. I presented at a local high school with a math class. We were working on the Pythagorean Theorem and why it is important to be able to use it. I used the approach of satellite imagery and how satellite image pixels of land cover can be ground truth-ed by the students (and why ground truthing important to begin with). So, we studied GPS, compass use (Lat/Lon), and how to find the distance from the center of a square to the corner of it if you know the length of the square's sides.

As part of the presentation, and using the instruments we had just learned about, I asked the students to build a mini-satellite pixel in the classroom (before we go out into the field and do it for real on Thursday). No one wanted to volunteer. And it wasn't because they were not engaged or interested. They were interested, but I saw that they have a major challenge in that if they don't know exactly how to do something, they are too scared to try it and perhaps fail. I watched it in their eyes. For some reason, these kids have had the desire to strive to new heights even if they risk falling on their butts, beaten out of them. They seemed to fear censure from their teachers, the other students, or society at large, and they were all too afraid to start.

But then, I asked them to do a part that they recognized (using the compass to find a cardinal direction, which we had just covered and they had gotten it very well) and a bunch of them volunteered. Honestly, I don't know if there is causality here, but I saw the light in their eyes when they felt like they could do the task at hand and a fair number of students got up and tried it. They were excited to try, but only if they had an idea of how to do it, if they understood the whys and wherefores, and if they had had a chance to practice it a couple of times beforehand.

Once we had covered the concepts and they were able to apply putting the "mouse" in the "house," of the compass, they got it and kept trying to find different directions on their own. The energy in the room was palpable. They worked together, they helped each other, and they wanted to strive for more. But the second we got into unfamiliar territory, I found them much more willing to blow off the activity and start denigrating it, themselves, and each other. That happened over and over again until we worked together to make it more familiar to them and kept stressing the concepts behind what they were doing. Once again, they were focused, the only talking occurred because they were discussing what to do and how to do it and the reasons why they needed to do it in the first place. Then, things went smoothly and they all had fun.

It leads me to believe that the concepts behind what we are asking these kids to learn need to be stressed much more than teachers currently have time to do. If the kids learn the concepts (in a fun way and I can't stress how important it is that it be fun), and then apply those concepts and really get a chance to practice different scenarios behind those concepts, they can extrapolate and progress to new heights. But if they only learn how to do the one thing they are taught, then the second they are in unfamiliar territory, they will retreat either into a shell of quiet, or a defensive posture of talking, yelling, and otherwise being disengaged. (I will leave the discussion on what it means to spend more time on concepts for another post, but believe me when I say that the students are learning more, and more varied, science, math, and language arts this way than if they are just learning for the test. They are learning more and then can recall, reiterate, and apply it better. This, I promise you.)

Please don't get me wrong. I am not in any way denigrating teachers or how hard they work. I have the utmost respect for how much time and energy teachers put into what they do. I don't believe it is the teachers' fault. I believe the system makes it very hard for teachers to have time to fit everything in, and I think that needs to change in order for our kids to have a better chance to find that curiosity that will lead them to push boundaries and reach for the stars.

I am blessed in that I am always a guest at these schools. I don't have to do all of the myriad things teachers have to fit into their days/class periods. It's incredible how much they have to do and I am grateful that I can come in, do my presentations, and help the teachers implement various projects and activities.

They have the tough job. Me, I'm like an aunt. I swoop in (to the classroom). I rile 'em up on sugar (or concepts, or fun activities), and then I leave and the teachers work with their students to continue what we started. I hope that the education system makes more room for what I do. I think we need more time spent on fun in the classroom (Yes, Timmy. Science and math are fun and let's work together so we can see just how fun they can be!!). I think students need to approach concepts from different perspectives and see where those perspectives lead. (If they get the chance to do that, they can then apply what they have learned to other situations and that will give them knowledge they can take into the rest of their lives.) I think we need more time spent on inquiry (Let's let the students become curious. Once they are curious, the sky's the limit!). And I truly believe that if we keep moving away from teaching to the test, students will know more, learn better, and excel. They will succeed beyond our (and their) wildest dreams.