I begin my classes by asking my students: "Why are you here? What do you want to learn?"
Often the answer I get is: "I tried on my own a couple of times and it didn't work!"
I ask further: "Why? What happened?"
And almost every time I get a similar answer with an underlying issue: "because the bread it wasn't so good/perfect AS I WANTED...please HELP ME...I DON'T WANT TO FAIL AGAIN!"
...and with that "I want, I don't want" comes the frustration.
This is the moment where I point out that perhaps the problem was not the bread, but the EXPECTATIONS we place on ourselves.
We measure our success or failure by those expectations and we forget THE REALITY OF A LEARNING-PROCESS...which is always the same for everyone:
We learn through REPETITIONS and MISTAKES!
Failures are the best opportunity to understand if we are on the path of improving or we need changes and adjustments.
The THEORY of a learning process is simple to understand but at the same time the PRACTICE is frustrating for ALL OF US.
We don't want to feel that frustration, we don't want to fail.
Those are human feelings and it's perfectly fine to feel this way.
When we learn something new, it is never about pushing these feelings away, but keeping repeating and trying, trying and repeating despite the fact that at the moment it is not as we want it, yet!
It's fine to have expectations, that's how we also motivate and guide ourselves through life... It's just about remembering that our expectations can become a hindrance to our development as soon as we are not willing to relate them to REALITY.
And reality says: if you want to learn, you have to be open to mistakes and repetition. This rule is valid for everyone, no exceptions.
So my dear friend, keep failing and trying. We are together into this adventure: give yourself time, patience, understanding and kindness...that's also what I call love.
With all my heart, Maria-Lucrezia 🌸
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