Bad Directions

I hate bad directions.

I finally broke down a purchased a new TV for our home, and had to mount it on the wall.

This is something that I’ve been putting off for quite some time, as I didn’t want/ need an excuse to watch more television.

I get my fill watching The Daily Show with John Stewart, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance. (I love his ‘take’ on current events, and I love performance shows)

O.K. - enough about my taste in TV programming - back to my mounting story.

It should have been an easy gig – mount the wall mount for the TV, then put the TV on it.

Simple enough, right?

It shoulda been!

You see, I was given a 30 page instruction manual for this darn thing.

30 pages to tell me how to put in 8 screws!

Oh, and the wall mount came with 48 different screws without telling me which ones to use. Aaaarrrggghhh!

Nowhere in those 30 pages of instructions did it tell me which screws to use!

Unbelievable.

So through a process of trial and error, my wife and I finally figured out which screws to use, got the T.V. mounted, and are now enjoying the little bit of T.V. that we do watch in high definition.

This experience brought to mind something I deal with on a daily basis.

I work with folks everyday who have movement limitations and pain – and they’re looking for answers.

They want simple, easy to follow instructions.

But, there is no instruction manual for us that tells us how to move in the most efficient way. And no, simply saying “lift with your legs” when bending over to pick something up doesn’t cut it.

We need to learn by trial and error.

Babies and little children do an excellent job at this.

Next time you’re around a small child, watch what they do. They attempt variations around everything it is that they do.

These variations are incredibly important.

Variations supply our nervous systems with raw data, if you will. Raw data that it can “pull from” at a later time in order to accomplish a task.

The way I’ve come to understand learning is that it’s not a linear process (it’s only presented that way). Learning is a process of extraction.

From those variations that you see small children taking part in, patterns are assembled from past experience in their brains in order for them to accomplish a task. Whether it’s picking up blocks off the floor or picking their noses, past experience allows them to be able to do those things.

These “variations of trial and error” are something the overwhelming majority of adults no longer participate in.

They get stuck in the ruts of daily life and stop experimenting with variations, with different ways of doing things.

However, once this process of experiencing variation is re-introduced in adulthood, you see some amazing things happen.

Limitations begin to fade away, pain goes away, and people begin living life more fully.

It’s deceptively simple.

But once you engage yourself in the process, you begin living you life in high definition.

And you don’t need 48 screws and a 30 page instruction manual to do it!

LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING…
What are you doing in your life that provides variation?

LET ME SUGGEST…
Send us an email and let us know what you do to stay out of those ruts that most adults are stuck in.

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com