Let us encourage those who seek to learn and contribute

My tai chi teacher told me to drop my shoulders and open up my collarbone. Sometimes my body doesn't always do as it's told. When I was learning to rollerblade, the person teaching me would always say, "Push to the side, not to the back." I would tell my feet to go to the side, but they would keep going to the back. Eventually, after the friend who had been teaching me had quit teaching me, my feet started obeying. I hope that in time, my collarbone will also figure out how to obey. I usually practice tai chi almost every day. In our most recent class, my tai chi teacher seemed pretty exasperated with my collarbone's disobedience, and went into scolding mode. After that, I didn't feel like practicing tai chi at home, and I felt like quitting the class.

A few months ago I joined an e-mail group. I fantasized that the members would be impressed by the wisdom of my contributions. Instead, they hated my outlook so much that the moderators rejected my post. I questioned whether I really wanted to be a part of that group after all. In that questioning, I discovered three people who had quit the group because their contributions had been rejected. I decided to stay, at least for now, but I'm reserved. I hesitate to participate fully in the group for fear of being rejected again.

Let us not squash the aspirations of those who seek to learn and contribute. When people tell me how impressed they are with my abilities, I am inspired to live up to those expectations. The world needs all the help it can get. Let us encourage those who seek to learn and contribute.