It’s a love/hate affair for me with learning new things! Most people aren’t even aware that there are some people who have a neurological structure within their cranium that’s programmed to operate backwards. What am I talking about?
The more obvious and simple something is to do¹, the harder it is for me to figure out. As it becomes more complex, the easier it becomes. The unfortunate part of it all is that, by the time I’ve reached the point when things start getting easier for me to comprehend, I’m so burned out and frustrated over what I accomplished! That’s when I totally lose my motivation to continue and move on to something else. Maybe that’s why whenever a new special interest arrives, I’m passionate (others call it obsessive) about it?
I first began to realize not everyone approaches new learning material (the same way as I do) until I homeschooled my son. I did fantastic with Algebra in when I was in high school, but failed miserably in Geometry class. I thought I was doomed when I would have to teach my son Geometry. Much to my astonishment, I was able to grasp (on my own) all the mathematical concepts my son had time to learn! He was so prepared for college at an early age that, when he entered, they wanted him to join Phi Theta Kappa! . . . but that’s side-tracking from my point here.
It was when doing math I learned that others do not arrive at solutions to problems the same way I do. I would find the absolute most complex, longest, and difficult way to get answers. Some of the problems in the math books would explain how the solutions were arrived at. I often times could not comprehend how those authors came up with their way of solving the answers, so I would contact the publisher to ask for help. They couldn’t comprehend my way of getting the same answer. It never was that I couldn’t get the answer to problems. It was that I didn’t like how much time it took me to do so. I wanted to be faster and get the answers in a more simple way, but try as hard as I did, I never could work through most of those math problems the same way others did. But then, no one could solve problems using my methods either (except me, of course!).
Now a few years have passed since then. I didn’t keep the math books or the papers for how I went through them. If I was to take on the task of teaching my grandchildren the same material, I’d have to start all over again from scratch. If I don’t keep doing what I begin, it’s like getting killed in a video game like Nintendo — I have to go back to the beginning and work my way back to where I was. The only thing I get to keep as a souvenir for all of my efforts is the confidence to know I can do yet another thing that I probably once believed I could not do, because I didn’t know enough to try and fight for doing something my way.
¹However, if it’s something that doesn’t actively involve me doing it, but rather it’s just something that already exists, then I tend to see what’s obvious that other’s don’t seem able to recognize.
Here’s an example: The debate about how old the earth and universe is. Almost all Christians will say the earth is new, whereas atheists will say it’s ancient. What do I say? It depends first of all what your definition of new is. Do you mean new as in it hasn’t been around a long time or do you mean new as in something that isn’t aged like fine wine? I say the earth and universe have not been around as long as most people claim it has, but I also say that the earth and universe are old aged.
Christians of all people should know that God, being the creator of all things (made from no things), gets to make his creation just like an author does when beginning a book. You’ve got to start from somewhere. Characters are introduced into the story with each being already a particular age, the weather is a specific forecast, etc. God states in His book that Adam was created a man. Adam wasn’t created a cell at conception that had not yet divided. He was an adult. He was aged. So, I’m sure too that the earth, when it was formed, already had fossils and rock layers with different ages. A supernatural being isn’t bound to natural laws, because He is above the law (unlike many people who think they are). I think I’ve made my point about my ability to be simple sometimes?.?.
