Making the Most from What We Learn

Have you ever read a book about how to drive a car or how to play the guitar? When you finished the book, were you ready to navigate the highways and roads of New York City or play on stage in a band? Information and knowledge are useful and necessary for us to learn and grow but they are often only part of the equation. The real learning takes place when we are practicing behind the wheel of the car or with the guitar in our hands. Even then, it takes hours and hours of practice before we are prepared to take on bigger challenges like heavy traffic or performing for an audience. The same phenomenon applies to training our mind to notice the positive all around us. Just reading and hearing about how to be happier and more positive doesn’t make us so. We need situations in our lives where we can apply the information we have learned so we can experience transformation in our quality of life. Every little situation is an opportunity to practice to better prepare us to handle those larger more difficult challenges. Now we have a reason to be thankful for even those little annoyances in our lives!