LFL # 23 => The Quicker You Learn, The Faster You Will Operate

Last week, I returned home from work and I had some groceries in the car. Normally, the girls would arrive at the main door to collect them.

This time, my daughter approached me in the driveway and bend over the car door to kiss me. She smiled and greeted me and asked me how was my day? I knew in my heart something was not right and so, I waited till we entered the house.

I entered the kitchen and found her standing in front of me. She started crying immediately. First, I hugged her and asked her what happened. She explained that a group of friends had the same material for the group project but they were marked differently. Her professor was talking to the same group and all though, she was not part of the project, she decided to understand the rationale used by the professor. In turn, he was angry and upset with the other students and told her that she should not speak on behalf of them and raised his voice. She realized her mistake and withdrew herself while one of the students kept the argument active.

She apologized that she should have listened to what I had said to her in our past conversations. I explained to her that she had a noble intention but advocating for somebody else would really not cut the distance.

She acknowledged that every human must fight his or her own battle. I added that it’s important to draw the line before taking the plunge to help others and more than that, one must help oneself before helping others. I asked her if she fixed the problem, as her professor admired her knowledge and recognized her as one of his bright students in the class.

She replied, “I found him later in the day and approached him. I apologized to him and explained that I had no intention to intervene in his class or advocate for his students but was rather curious to understand the difference in marking style when the material and effort is a common denominator.”

He said to her, “I forgot about it and so, should you. I know you are a good human being.” And they parted away.

I smiled at her and said, “You need courage to acknowledge your mistake and you told me as well as your teacher about it. So, I am proud of you because there are few out there who acknowledge and take remedial measures. As a next step, you realized the problem and took action to fix it.” I told her, “Life will always throw problems at you and some you will learn to create with time but the important learning is to identify solutions. Some solutions are simple while others are complex. And there will be times, when you may not have a closure to a problem based on its nature and depth. But, don’t stop and stay focused because the quicker you learn, the faster you will operate. She calmed down and we hugged each other.

CA/GL-05/20/18

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