SWITCH

‘Big changes can start with very small steps.’ When we face a serious problem, we tend to take some severe measures. In some cases it works but whatever you do you should also continue taking small steps for more profound settlement and digestion. People who have a badly-planned fast start begin once more some years later, like people who want to learn a foreign language in a magical way instead of reading as much as possible. In fact, 80% of our vocabulary comes from subconscious learning, not from memorizing. A friend of mine managed to speak Russian which is a quite difficult language in six months. The only thing he did was to pick up a commonly-used word, go out of his room (he lived in a hostel) and ask a native speaker to make up some sentences with the word. He repeated that 4-5 times a day. He did the same with English and in a year he could communicate in two foreign languages. It might be a good sample for some people to copy, at least for a good start and till they find a better way to improve. And when I try to improve, I should never forget the word; ‘balance’. I should keep the heart and mind in balance.  Everything stands on knowledge (mind) but you only are as big as your heart is.  (Ibrahim’s note: First I wrote one and half a page comment on the book, then I shortened it by cutting the part about the elephant and the rider, about giving a small manageable task to elephant each time, showing the bright future/spot and telling it that it will get the bigger portion of that future happiness. Because I don’t think the elephant should be kept happy all the time. I don’t want an elephant that smiles all the time as if it is mentally challenged but I want and need an elephant that sees and shares all -at least main-  colours of life. As English people say ‘no pain, no gain’. 

By Ibrahim Can Korkut