Long ago, while I was struggling through an early math class, the whole concept of subtraction was frustrating and difficult for me; my mother gave me some guidance. “It use to give me trouble too when I was your age,” she told me. “I hate subtraction, so I don’t ever do it.”
This notion intrigued my young mind. Maybe Mom was going to get me out of math class. Could it be that easy? It wasn’t. “I figured out I just needed to add everything,” she confessed.
I felt duped. Not only wasn’t she getting me out of math class, she was making me do more math. She easily read the concerned and disappointed look on my face. “For example,” she continued, “instead of 7 take away 2, I think, what plus 2 equals 7?”
It was a great little tip, the wisdom of which I have not fully realized until these last few days. First off, what a terrific revelation of my Mother’s character and outlook on life. As a child she realized that she didn’t like subtraction. Instead of bemoaning that fact she searched for what could be added. To this day she explores the power of addition. She may be more tentative as she has aged, she grumbled about the Internet for months, but once we signed her on she mastered it in a couple of days. The innate positive-ness of her philosophy inspires me and it epitomizes the art of possibility. Rather than deleting things from your life, because they are burdensome, or too hard to figure out, consider exploring what you can add to it.
I began to think of this in terms of goal setting. For instance, in subtraction,
7 – 2 = ?
you do not know what your goal is, other than to make the outcome smaller. Yet if you flip the same problem around and look at it with a shifted paradigm that forces you to add, look what we discover.
2 + ? = 7
You now have a clear goal, 7, and a clear starting point, or existing condition, 2.
Just bridge the gap by adding to the existing condition and reaching your destination is assured.
Said another way...
2 (is the starting point, or existing condition) + (is an Attitude of Addition) ? (is the Gap between existing condition and goal) = 7 (the Goal, or destination)
What a beautiful way to view problems in the world! Thanks Mom.
This notion intrigued my young mind. Maybe Mom was going to get me out of math class. Could it be that easy? It wasn’t. “I figured out I just needed to add everything,” she confessed.
I felt duped. Not only wasn’t she getting me out of math class, she was making me do more math. She easily read the concerned and disappointed look on my face. “For example,” she continued, “instead of 7 take away 2, I think, what plus 2 equals 7?”
It was a great little tip, the wisdom of which I have not fully realized until these last few days. First off, what a terrific revelation of my Mother’s character and outlook on life. As a child she realized that she didn’t like subtraction. Instead of bemoaning that fact she searched for what could be added. To this day she explores the power of addition. She may be more tentative as she has aged, she grumbled about the Internet for months, but once we signed her on she mastered it in a couple of days. The innate positive-ness of her philosophy inspires me and it epitomizes the art of possibility. Rather than deleting things from your life, because they are burdensome, or too hard to figure out, consider exploring what you can add to it.
I began to think of this in terms of goal setting. For instance, in subtraction,
7 – 2 = ?
you do not know what your goal is, other than to make the outcome smaller. Yet if you flip the same problem around and look at it with a shifted paradigm that forces you to add, look what we discover.
2 + ? = 7
You now have a clear goal, 7, and a clear starting point, or existing condition, 2.
Just bridge the gap by adding to the existing condition and reaching your destination is assured.
Said another way...
2 (is the starting point, or existing condition) + (is an Attitude of Addition) ? (is the Gap between existing condition and goal) = 7 (the Goal, or destination)
What a beautiful way to view problems in the world! Thanks Mom.
