“From the Starting Gate to the Finish Line, and the Greatest Life Lesson In Between”
No two books are completely the same, though most are designed by a recognizable framework. Beginning. Middle. End. Which part matters most? Well, they all serve separate purposes. Beginnings are important because they help capture peoples’ attentions. For the reader, a lack of early interest could persuade them to put the material down. Many of us are programmed to favor immediate gratification, and if we don’t forge a strong enough connection to something at an early sensory level than we may determine that it isn’t worth our time. As for the ending, that’s the easiest part to dwell on. How a story concludes will go a long way toward determining our most lasting memories. This can be unfortunate, and proof positive of how easy it is to forget what came before the final pages. By that, I’m referring to the middle. The middle of most stories is where the real work goes, and where the majority of our effort is spent. The middle is where the learning happens, and the central location for where the greater journey unfolds.
Our attention spans as readers tend to be short. Unfortunately, the same can be said about our willingness, or rather unwillingness, to learn new things.
I remember being in college and hearing one of my instructors talk about the secret to retaining information. What they said was that if we were going to spend 30 minutes studying for an examination, then the material we’d most likely remember would be what we reviewed during the first and final five minutes. The key to gaining more knowledge is to break up the time we spend studying by absorbing our information into smaller segments. In other words: slow down and be present. I’ve always found this advice to be useful both in and out of the classroom. When I take the time to observe the world around me in more than just a superficial way, it adds a three-dimensional quality to the experience. This is true for the work I do as a writer and as an optometrist, along with my daily routines as a husband and as a father. I don’t spend nearly as much time in the moment as I should, but when I do, I remember more details about my experiences. If we consider mindfulness as the key to learning, then it’s only a small leap to view it as one of the great catalysts for achievement.
For all of the value that learning brings, it doesn’t always shine beneath the spotlight as an obvious measure for success.
If the only goals we care about are externally focused, then we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. There’s a quote from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values that lends to this idea: “Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster…When you try to climb a mountain to prove how big you are, you almost never make it (Pirsig 266).” The world teaches us to dwell on material assets and to use them as metrics for determining a person’s worth. By doing so, the journey becomes a mundane process, like climbing the rungs on a ladder, and it creates an unfair standard for judging ourselves and those around us. Persig’s words should remind us to stay grounded. Our lives are filled with distractions. If we aren’t careful, they can consume us in mind, body, and spirit. By shifting our perspectives away from the things we want to acquire, and reprioritizing our goals on how we can grow by learning, the day-to-day grind of life becomes not only less tedious, but more interesting.
The world is no even playing field. The definition for life success should be unique to each individual.
We should be careful about how critically we judge other people by their perceived gains and losses. No two lives or sets of circumstances are completely alike. They say you reap what you sow, and I believe it, but I also realize that, like many people, I’ve benefitted from things in my life which others haven’t. A safe living environment. Supportive family. Access to healthcare. Quality education with caring educators. This isn’t to say I don’t appreciate the accomplishments and sacrifices that go into achievement. I just think it’s shortsighted to assume all of us are given the same opportunities. For those who’ve passed through various walks of life, this concept is easy to appreciate. According to Oxford Languages and Google, empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy alone isn’t enough to solve most of the world’s problems, but it helps people keep perspective, and should serve as a gentle reminder for us to be grateful for the things we have.
No one knows exactly why we’re all here, but if there is a greater purpose behind everything then I have to believe the reason has something to do with learning. We’re only given a short amount of time and there’s a lot of ground to cover. So get out there and expand your horizons! If you take the initiative then you’re already on the right path, and before long you’ll realize that where you started from and how you’ll finish aren’t nearly as compelling of questions as what you learned along the way.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
- Todd
Work cited disclosure:
Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values. New York: HarperTorch. 2006. Mass Market Paperback.
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