I coach sports, currently a soccer team. In demonstrating to an individual athlete, I show them a slow motion version of kicking the ball with the instep. I pass my foot in the right position through the ball, gently rolling the ball to the player who stands less than 10 feet away. Then they try to copy my motion as I say “Gently hit the ball.” Instead, they blast back at my body. Why?

Children learn and they learn fast. Their first mode of learning is to copy everything they see and hear. Thus, when you tell a young boy to carry an object over there and ask if he can do it, you get a TV character in return saying, “By the power of Greystone I can do it.”

Later as adults we add analysis of things as a way to learn. We ask more questions like why did that happen or how did that happen. Many times these questions can help us learn about ways to prevent the bad thing from happening or keep the good thing going. Unless you are playing golf. In that case over analysis leads to a 50 yard worm burner to the left.

Learning is choice. Learning is about where our focus is. The first time I taught a 7th grade math class I was doing a few problems on the board that they were supposed to be copying down in their notebooks. When I turned around I noticed a boy in the back row holding the spiral up to one eye and peering through it like the captain of a ship would look through a telescope to scan the horizon for the shore he was seeking. When his gaze through the telescope fell upon me looking at him, he quickly slammed the spiral back down on the desk to say “I wasn’t really doing that.” Except he was and I saw. He was learning. Not math but he was learning something about changing his view by looking with one eye. Or perhaps he felt like a person who lost their way at sea so was looking for a glimpse of shore. Any shore.

I hope that you have a Happy Friday.