Today I'm going to start a new series on this blog, a series about my limitations as a person and knowing how to live within them.
Knowing ones limitations is not a matter of self-esteem. Regardless of how much we wish it to happen, certain things are just not meant to be and I think it is best that we recognize what the limitations are in ourselves and learn to live the best we can within them. We are all bad at something and while some things can get better with practice, many cannot. A 5'2 woman cannot play in the NBA, regardless of the amount of desire and practice that is put forth. The physical limitations are just too great. Limitations are, perhaps, also a sign from above. We can't do certain things because we might not have been meant to do them. Of course, God never fully reveals his plans and the possibility that we can be wrong is always there, but physical and mental limitations are always good indicators of where we are supposed to go in life.
That said, I jump to my first limitation, math. I stink at it, I've always stunk at it and I simply don't like it. I know it sounds funny coming from an economics graduate student, which is math heavy, but knowing this math limitation has made me realize how far I can reasonably expect to go in my economics education. Being bad at math, and not really caring for it, pretty much rules out Ph.d level economics. That's ok. I can live with that, especially if I know that limitation going in and plan accordingly. I'm not meant for Ph.d work in economics, that's ok. As an old CS professor once told me "you can live a perfectly full and content live without a Ph.d".
I know enough math to get by in my masters program, but think that's about as far as that can go. Practice certainly helps, but my mind has never fully been able to wrap itself around the subject. I can go through a lot of the motions, but rarely do I understand all the implications of what I'm doing or why I am doing them. Going through the motions works up to a certain point, but if I had really wanted to go further with my economics education, it's probably not enough.
Oh well, I accept it and am fine with it.
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What I'm Reading
The Return of The Great Depression by Vox Day
The Housing Boom and Bust by Thomas Sowell
Other Crap I Read
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- kikachuck
- A blog of my post-cancer life.
2 comments:
that may be, but those limits are also ment to be broken. maybe your not good at math because you never took the time to understand why you were doing it, why it works this way. you just went through the motions. i agree, some things just arent going to happen, but that doesnt mean we dont try for them. i told my running partner to set a goal she cant achieve, and try her best to meet it. that way she will push the envelope. but then again, ive always been one to push things.
Yes, but its all a matter of what the end game is? What would you get out of pushing it and if it would be worth it to do so.
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