Stitching together a new quilt

[TimeHeals]

It makes me wonder - shouldn't some things in life just be easier?

I guess that depends on how you look at it.

At one point in my life, I dropped out of college for 7 years. When I returned and had selected a new major, I figured out that if I didn't go straight into calculus, that I would be in college over a year longer, so my first quarter I took Calculus I. Now, I had no memory of things like geometry and trig, so my decission was radical.

I failed the first two tests. I was a straight A student otherwise, but Calculus was kicking my butt. I bought books on trig and other classes I should have taken, and I stayed up nights after work doing remedial work.

Going into the Final Exam, I needed an A (never got one in this class) to get a passing 'C' in Calc I. I took the final, and since my prof posted grades on his door over the weekend, I went to the university Saturday night to see my final grade: I got an 'A' on the final. I went from being lost to the highest grade on the final in 10 short weeks, but it was a huge struggle for me.

Calc II & III were easy As. My minor became mathematics.

I went from struggling (my whole life) with math to liking it and selecting it as my minor because it became easy, but it took work to get to where it just flowed.

Life is kind of like that: some folks make things seem easy, but that's only because you don't see the sweat and dedication they invested in what they are doing up front. Over time, those things become 2nd nature to them.

Thinking...

I was watching the Winter Olympics' Snow Board half-pipe competition last Winter, and Shaun White did amazing things. I found myself wondering how many times he had falled, wiped out, etc on even the basics while growing up and learning to do this. He made it look so easy, and nobody could touch his performance. Yeah, he was a "natural" it seemed, but how did he get there?