Self-Actualization

Human Development Takes Time

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“He who would learn to fly one day must learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”
– Frederick Nietzsche

It’s tough to tell if it’s a Western bias or something common to all of humanity, but people want results right away. They believe in the possibility of shortcuts, they think they deserve something for nothing. I remember a girl at a coffee shop who hoped she could get fluent in Spanish while listening to tapes while she was asleep. This sort of wishful thinking is the rule not the exception, whether it’s weight loss or intellectual pursuits or anything else.

Human development is hard enough without the added frustration and disappointment sure to result from unrealistic expectations. When it comes to the really worthwhile endeavors there is only one way to reach them and this way is through effort and dedication, anything else is childish fantasy.

It’s nice to remember that every master was once a beginner. It’s also useful to remember that these masters walked a long path, they didn’t just spring fully formed into their abilities but had to work hard for them. Human development takes time and patience, and you can believe you’re going to get there without fooling yourself into believing you’re going to get there right away.

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