If something goes wrong, its not
because of me.Its because of someone else..
My wife takes Maths tuitions. A
student comes daily because her mother has forced her to this so called torture.
My wife works very hard to get her student’s basics right. Its a struggle that
I see more often than not.
The girl will say – “My teacher
in school doesn’t teach me the same way, I am confused, I don’t understand, this
subject is difficult”, my wife reasons – “Agreed that we are different
teachers, our methods are different but how can the principles and logic
change??”
The inability to understand the
subject is a problem that the girl encounters and she has conveniently shifted
the genesis of this problem to the
teaching methods of her teachers.
Now, when I recollect some of the
incidents that happened in my school days,I can see this clearly.
How many times I have heard this
among my friends in school – “ Exam paper was tough,the questions were out of
syllabus, Maths teacher doesn’t like me”
Now what is this??
As long as we think that problem
is due to others, the solutions will never originate from us as we don’t see
this problem as ours. WE have to take the responsibility for our problems and
not blame others. Ability to respond(to problems) is responsibility.
If there is an issue in our
office, it is always because of others
and not “ME”.This creates an environment where there are only problems and no
solution providers.Only when we accept and recognise the problem that there is a hope in getting solutions.
I come back to the girl who is taking tuitions from my wife.She was counselled by my wife and me that the challenge is not MATHS as a subject but it lies in getting this fear out of your mind that this subject is tough.Once you accept that this is a problem,it is easier to get a solution which is – it takes practice, hard work and sound basics to get this subject right.
Half the battle is won when you accept the existence of a problem. She recognised this and has never moaned about the teacher again. The results are out, she secured an A1 in her most dreaded subject(even better than her relatively easier subjects).We both are very proud of her achievements and silently also take pride in changing her attitude(this is a bigger accomplishment that the A1)
So,the philosophy that can be imbibed is –
"Let problems come from anywhere,
the solutions will come from me.”
