I started out as a dunce, in life.
Literally.
“Not fit for class” was what my first-grade teacher wrote on the progress report. My parents preserved it with care, to show me when I would grow up to be successful.
It took many decades.
And I did not become a Thomas Alva Edison who was labeled “addledAn”. Far from it. My own light bulb is still flickering.
But my life did mark some improvement from where I was back then in first grade.
Duh, of course, you’d say I’ve grown.
Do you know how, though?
I simply learned to put one step in front of the other, no matter how low I felt. And learned from that experience of putting my feet in the right direction.
Simply one foot ahead of the other. I kept learning, I kept pushing. I knew the door would open. Someday.
The right door. Wherever it was.
This continuous learning like a child opened up a growth curve for me. So said my mother.
Learning was not just from books or videos. I learn from feedback. All kinds of feedback, really. Even from smirks, I learn something.
Feedback is the good word for criticism in many cases. I take it in, even when my innards hurt, my eyes sting, I take it in like a bitter pill.
And like all bitter pills, it does the job of healing me. I emerge from that low point, healthy and strong.
So, the bottom line – if you have anything to say to me about my work, my umpteenth draft, my inept, tactless comment, please do not hesitate to point it out in your best possible style, and you’ll know for sure that I have heard you sincerely and I have thanked you for doing what you just did.
It marked my growth to a different level.
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