Contents
Step 70: “The existence of the night is what gives meaning to the day”
The 88 rungs of happy people
In this chapter of “The 88 steps of happy people” I explain the importance of knowing the good, but also the bad, in order to learn
Of all the singing teachers I had (around ten), I highlight two. One was a renowned Korean teacher who had given concerts in dozens of countries. He went by the name “Dr. Chou.” He was older. He sang very well. And this was a problem (now you will see why). The other was Katrina the humble singing teacher of the previous Step. Young and American. He had no reputation or renown, and he had not given concerts other than in his hometown, but he had the ability to do something that the Korean teacher could not do: sing well … And also … sing badly. And this was something of enormous importance.
When I was in class with Dr. Chou, he would tell me the correct way to sing. Then I would try to reproduce what he had just done. Of course, I was not even close. And what was he doing? Repeat the correct way to do it again. What changed when after several attempts I still did not find the correct form? Absolutely nothing. His only recourse was to sing well in the hope that I would eventually reproduce it. But that resource was of no value to me, and therefore, I did not end up improving or learning. He could sing well. I do not.
Katrina, however, was doing something different. She would tell me how to sing a passage, but, when I failed, instead of continuing to show me what to do, it would reproduce the same thing that I did, that is, not only the correct way, but also the wrong one. And why was this so important? Because it made the force of contrast available to me.
When you only have the correct option, you only have one piece of information. But the strength of learning is to understand two facts: what something is … and also … what something is not. Why? Because you cannot explain the night to someone who has not seen the day. To explain to you what the night is, I also need to explain to you what the night is not, that is, to show you the light of day, and thanks to understanding what the night is not, you will be understanding what the night is.
Why is this a Stepping Stone to Inner Success? Because it contains a very important key for your learning and, therefore, for your evolution. The key to increasing your growth is to always keep two things in mind: learn what something is … And also … what something is not. Many understand the first, but very few understand the second. It does not come with knowing what makes your life full, but also what makes it empty. It is not enough to know what you want to incorporate into your life, but also what you want to eliminate. It is not enough to think about which paths you will take when incorporating the Steps in this book, but also to understand what they would be like if you did not incorporate them. This is the formula that increases our consciousness and strengthens our power of discernment.
If you want to understand what it is to live from the essence, you need to understand what it is to live from the ego. If you want to explain to someone what it is to live from light, first help them to understand what it is to live from ignorance. If you are looking to make your own decisions for a superior Inner Success Belt, stop to reflect how they would be the ones you would take from a lower Belt. Why? Because every time you use contrasts, you bring clarity.
# 88StepsPeopleHappy
«You do not value only the day, but also the night, since it is the existence of the night that gives meaning to the day»
@Angel