Mastery or spark?.............................

This was the title of The Robert Gem Newsletter this week. Is one better than the other? Is one more fun? I vote for spark!

I am always more excited when I am in the process of learning something than I am once I have "mastered" it. Maybe that is built in so that we don't settle or become stagnate, once our goal is achieved?

In thinking about the above question, one picture that comes to mind involves two parents. One the mother of a two year old, and the other a mother of a tenish month old. Both babies are standing at a table............... The two year old goes toddling off towards the door and the look on his/her mother's face is clearly one of, "Why did I ever teach you to walk? Now I have to chase you all the time." The tenish month old watches the two year old heading out the door, lets go of the table, and takes his/her first un-aided steps. The look of his/her mother's face is a mixture of excitement, joy, and glee. Spark clearly wins out over mastery in this example. (Though I gotta say that after about age four, anything your child masters makes life easier for you........ Especially when they can drive and run errands for you.)

Our long term goal may be mastery, but the steps we achieve along the way are where the spark comes from. Remember:

"It's about the journey not the destination"

Never shy away from a learning opportunity. Never let your fears hold you back from trying something new. This is where the spark comes from, and best reason in the world for getting out of bed in the morning. Get excited about something, anything. You just might light a spark in someone else.