Getting It

Histology, the study of the microscopic structure of every cell in the body, was one of the first courses I took in medical school was. I didn’t do well on the first test; I resented all of the memorization and the picky nature of the material. A friend did well on the exam, and I asked, “Joe. How did you get an A? That stuff is so picky.”

“Yup,” he answered, “that’s what it is.”

I got it instantly and put my energy into learning the material instead of fighting its picky nature.

Life often presents us with similar situations. Just as I initially fought against histology's demanding nature, we sometimes resist requirements that others place on us - whether it's a partner's wish to have a clean kitchen before bedtime or a seemingly unnecessary workplace protocol. We might bristle at these 'picky' demands, wasting energy fighting them rather than simply accepting and addressing them.

'Getting it' means recognizing that sometimes the path to harmony lies in willing acceptance rather than resistance - though of course, this only applies to reasonable requests, not those we find truly objectionable.

Does this kind of ‘getting it’ make sense to you? Have you had similar situations in your own life?

Send your thoughts to ron@biggerhearted.com, with I got it in the subject line.