Discomfort

I recently bought a Mac computer. I have been told a lot about how superior they are to PCs. I have no problem at all with PCs and have in fact been on a learning binge in the last 6 months or so trying to figure out all the stuff MS Office can do that I didn't know it could... and there is a lot.

But I am all for learning new things, and Macs all just look so cool. So I took the plunge with visions of all the movies and photo montages I am going to make.

Aaaaaaaaaaaa......

It is crazy how uncomfortable it has made me. I just don't know how to do anything. Well, I can do the absolute basics like type, open the internet at turn the computer on and off... but other than that I am pretty useless. Just getting the photos and music across from my PC to my Mac is something I have not been able to do.

I am trying to have a bravo attitude about the sense of discomfort that comes along with something new. I am trying to say to myself that it is the only way you learn. But it still sucks. This all comes from a decision a year ago to learn to touch type. I have always been painfully slow, so I figured I would take the plunge.

I found the experience fascinating. I started typing at 40 words per minute with two or three fingers on each hand and looking at the keyboard. I forced myself to not look at the keyboard and bought a typing program. I dropped to 12 words per minute. Slowly but surely I fought through the discomfort. It was a slow, tedious project. But it was fascinating watching my fingers slowly but surely develop a memory of where the keys were. Mistakes came a plenty but I fought through them. Then slowly but surely I got faster and faster. I am now getting to the stage where I am not really thinking about the next key that I am going to press and the mistakes are far less regular. It is rather surreal. I am now typing at around 70 words per minute. I go through this story for the simple reason of dispelling the impression my brother has that I spend hours blogging. A post seldom takes more than 15 minutes.

Whenever you watch magicians with ridiculous memories, poker players doing funny tricks with chips, ballet dancers standing on their toes, marathon runners running faster than you can sprint after they have been running for 30 kms, piano players with their fingers dancing over the keys, friends switching effortlessly between languages and stand up comics making people laugh for hours on end...

I think we forget the level of discomfort you normally have to push through to get there.

We are capable of incredible things, but we hate discomfort. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't. Or if we learnt to push through more often.

Exciting times.