turns practice (Scotland)

Sit-ups for speed and power

Stupidity August 2005

  

“Stupidity: doing the same thing yet expecting different results.”

-Jim Steen

 

   Why is it that just when I think I understand something, I find out how little I really know? It feels almost like a process of steps and plateaus, where I grow in knowledge, hit a wall of improvement, and find a new world of information opening up to me. It makes me wonder, why I didn’t figure it out before? Was I capable of that knowledge but simply had set up mental blocks? Why is the process of growth and learning such that we often have to open every door along the road before reaching the door of at least temporary enlightenment?

   I bring all this up because it’s something I’ve recently been experiencing for the umpteenth time! I’ve dedicated numerous years of my life to swimming, yet I keep learning new information that will help me move forward. Problem is, I don’t always learn that information at the most opportune time! When I find myself at such a crossroads the questions is, which way do I go? Do I basically continue on the path I have been travelling (specifically a path not producing the results I desire), and hope for a different outcome by applying bits and pieces of my new knowledge? Or do I search within myself for the courage to make a bold move and entirely change what I’m doing, thus entirely reshaping and redirecting my path? We can only ever make a decision based on the information we have acquired, and each time we progress in our understanding we find ourselves at these proverbial crossroads. It’s funny though, the information I have recently acquired is not totally new to me, it’s just been phrased in a way that conglomerates all my previous learning.

   Thus, with this new found understanding of new and previous knowledge I find myself at my crossroads. Which do I choose? In my mind there is no question. I choose to move forward with courage, boldness and change.

 

   Which would you choose?