Is there anything wrong with NOT giving up!

I ran across this quote by Bob Marley, and I must say that I absolutely love it. Reading this quote, I thought about an International Baccalaureate (IB) conference that I attended last week that was all about teaching and learning.

In the conference we talked about how the Western world views success compared to other parts of the world. It was stated that in the US, if a student gets an A on an assignment, we might say "You are so smart; that is so good." However, it was stated that in some other cultures, if a child gets an A on an assignment, the people may ask "So what did you do to get the A?" In some other cultures, the process to the A is more important than the A itself. This has been on my mind since the conference.

For many people, if everything ain't easy or natural, they just won't do it. However, everything or everyone is not going to come easily.

Teaching is very natural for me. I have the ability to take the most difficult concept and simplify it to the point where almost anybody can get it. However, I have to continuously work at my given talent, and it ain't always easy. I remember thinking when I first started teaching "How do people do this for years?" Man, reading all of the time, planning lessons so that students could grasp ideas, teaching lessons and they totally flop, grading papers. I cried many days and there were many days when I wanted to say f#$@ it, but everything is not always going to be easy, and it can be so worth the struggle. I am soooooo happy that I stuck with teaching. It still ain't easy, but it is so worth it.

People ask me "Have you always been a runner?" And, the answer is absolutely NO! When I first started running, I couldn't run around the track one time without being completely out of breath. But, I joined a running group, and I faithfully ran with this group every week until it dawned on me that I could run a mile without stopping. Running is still difficult, but I stick with it, because I do not know of many other ways to get that feeling of liberation that I absolutely love.

There are so many people who have and are working their tails off to get or keep the woman of their dreams, to work for the company of their dreams, to understand a project that they are working on, to finish high school, college, graduate or professional school and on and on and on. Enjoy the struggle as much as possible, and reap the benefits.

So, as stated by Bob Marley, some of the things that come easily are not really worth it or appreciated, but things that we work for are normally always worth it, even with the ups and downs.

Bob Marley was one deep man!!!

Focus on the end product my Brothers and Sisters.