Motto

Motto. 

The definition of a motto is, "a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals guiding an individual, family or institution." I think I may have just discovered mine.  

Carol Dweck in her book Mindset, believes, "No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment."  I think effort is what has been 
missing from my life. I have fallen victim to the misguided notion that if too much effort was 
required then I must be lacking ability. 

Dweck also states that people with a fixed mindset, like me, believe that, "If you have to work at something, you must not be good at it." I can't help but be reminded how this relates to me and crotcheting. Now in the scheme of life what does it really matter if I learn to crochet or not? However, several years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to crotchet. My grandmother had once attempted to teach me, but I never quite got the hang of it, and gave up quite quickly when it became apparent that it was hard. 

Many years later with the guidance of a family member I decided to tackle it again. Each movement was so foreign and awkward I didn't think I'd ever learn. Eventually I was able to get into some kind of rhythm resulting in me actually crotcheting. Unfortunately, after getting pretty proficient with a stitch called double crotchet I never really went on to learn the other stitches. In addition, I never learned how to read a pattern, and kind of winged it with my misshapen scarves. Having to admit that crotcheting was difficult for me seemed to be more than my precious  self-esteem could handle. Because of this I wasn't willing to put in the effort required to learn more about it. So in essence I was content to go through life only knowing one stitch in an effort to not risk failure. 

Now this may all seem a little over the top considering I'm talking about yarn and a hook, but I now see this as a metaphor for my life. Not learning how to use my Mac laptop, never taking my camera off of the automatic settings, never wiping the dust off the sewing  machine, and repeatedly cooking the same meals over and over again are all the many ways I've let a fixed mindset hold me back. 

It is not my lack of ability, rather my lack of effort that seems to get in the way. I can't help but be reminded of a quote from Shakespeare that I read many years ago, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." It sounds like Shakespeare  knew a thing or two about mindset.