MAC Week 4 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch. 9 - 12

I will say, these last four chapters were pretty much the best part of the book I really enjoyed reading, though the whole of the book was still highly insightful and educational.  The last four chapters really dived into some of the things that really plaque our society today, namely not creating that spark in others and pushing the blame. I think the first chapter in this reading stood out for me the most and was one of the more powerful, thought provoking reads, and that was on the concept of doing things face to face to light that spark in others. This is one thing that I do firmly believe many should do. If given the option of calling or meeting a person face to face, currently, most will end up opting to do just the phone call. When we do this, it will not show just how passionate you are about a topic and you will most likely end up finding disinterest in the person you are trying to light that spark in if you didn't meet them face to face.
This is one of the reasons why I do miss teaching in a brick and mortar classroom. I did love teaching my students face to face, where I could ignite that spark in them to make them want to learn. Nothing gave me as sense of accomplishment than seeing one of my students suddenly light up and crave all knowledge I could impart upon them after I was able to sit there one on one with them. Being an online instructor is rough in trying to do this for the students as I cannot be there face to face with them, to show them that enthusiasm and passion that will make them want to learn and succeed.
The concept of 'being the board' instead of 'being the piece' really stood out for me as well. How many times have you heard someone tell you to 'be the ball'? I found this new concept to be quite the eye opener as 'being the board' means that you are the foundation upon which you place all of your life on instead of 'being the ball' and being carried through life one move at a time. This was a pretty profound analogy in this one.
Another concept that stood out for me in the reading was assigning blame. How many times have we assigned blame to another person when it was not really warranted? This instinct is one of the ones that come from being taught since a young age to be competitive. Throwing blame out on another shows their fault and can raise us up to get ahead, which is not a good thing to do. If we just took a step back, analyzed the situation and tried to come up with a less accusing tone and not just throwing the blame at people, we would cause a much more positive response in others that could turn around an ugly situation into a more positive one.

I found this book to be a very good read and it shows us some good ways to try and change our views and interactions on the world to make them a more positive and influential. Sadly, this world does need to get out of its competitive nature and learn to treat others as equals and to truly help one another. This would make life much more pleasurable to be in and we all are here only a short time so why not live it to its fullest?