Learning from an uneducated man

Today's tutoring, instead of the boy wanting to chat with me and keep me from going home... it was his grandfather who was chatting with me after lesson. :)

An uneducated man, a sailor, he speaks English eloquently. Today, he taught me a few things:

Don't keep problems up there (*points to brain). Throw it on the wall and find a solution for it. Use what you learn in school (who, what, when, where, why, how) and find the solution to it.

When you don't keep problems up there, you'll think faster and your mind will be more alert.

Wow. What true and wise words from a 73years old uneducated man who has a world-full of wisdom and experiences, which had 'educated' and taught him much.

Indeed, I was saying, there are two kinds of people in this world. One can learn by themselves; they don't need anyone to teach them for they will learn by/through everything around them. The other only learns when put in school and someone teaches, with exams to make them learn. The first found motivation within himself/herself; the latter had no self-motivation. Indeed, my boy's grandfather is the first kind, and he need not feel ashamed for being uneducated, for his knowledge, wisdom and experience far outweighs any PhD student; and his mind much 精 than many young people whose mind are overtaxed, overstretched, overloaded these days.

He was right to say: don't overstretch your mind. Learn to be happy, and stay happy. :)

I feel really inspired by him. Next time, I have something on mind, have something troubling on my mind, have a problem on my mind... really feel like writing it down and stick it on the wall, stare at it, and find a solution to it so that it no longer stays in my mind and troubles me. Truly, I've often engaged in battling with problems in my mind, procrastinate solving it and leaving it there to disturb me, distract me, and thus affecting my performance on other things as brain energy is still spent on it as I carry on other things.

Perhaps that was my problem for both O and A levels. There was simply too much on my mind that I should have dwelt with, should have let go, should have thrown it out of my mind. Then, perhaps, I could have greater mind capacity to engage my subjects and do better for my examinations. Wells, too late for regrets. Now, the only thing I can do, is learn and apply this from now on. :)

That being said, I think that blogging is one of the best way to let troubling problems/thoughts/events off my mind. Becoz sometimes throwing it on the wall and trying to find a solution to it won't work. Becoz some things there are simply no solution besides throwing them out/refuting and rebuking it, and simply DON'T think of it. :P

Another thing he said, which went straight to my heart: Never say you can't.

Indeed, as LKY said, "There is always a solution to the problem."

And the ancient famous saying, "When there's a will, there's a way."

So NEVER say cannot. For, you can! :)