We All Derive From Practice

"The Master said, 'Human beings can broaden the Way-it is not the Way that broadens human beings.'" (15.29)

I love this quote. I believe it is saying we can all choose our path in life but we have to find it. Our destiny will not find us. It is just like all of my friends complaining over boys. If I had a penny for every time I heard one of my friends say “I’m not pretty enough”, “Boys never come to me” I would be a millionaire. What they don’t understand is that they have to show an interest, or broaden the way, the things will change.

We have to find our own paths and broaden our way. This all starts with decisions. Let’s say you study hard and go to an Ivy League school, businesses will be begging for your services. That gives you an automatic wide open way. Now for the person that went to community college, let’s just say the path is a little narrower. It all starts with us making the decision to be the nerd or the cheerleading captain. We can choose to broaden our path in the future.

All of this leads to my next quote:

"The Master said, 'By nature people are similar, they diverge as the result of practice.'" (17.2)

Everyone is born the same (almost everyone). When you are a baby nothing else matters but to learn to walk and talk. As the days grow shorter we begin to develop talents, such as singing and dancing, sports, and intellectual development. As we begin hitting elementary there is a clear line between the intellectuals and the football players. In middle school the line zig zags a bit and plays survival of the fittest amongst the groups. By the time we hit high school the clicks are solid and once in a blue moon shifted around. Then we choose our professions amongst our talents. This is all a result of practicing our talents and there for diverging into groups because of them.

Another interpretation to this quote is that everyone is unique. Though almost physically the same we have different qualities and therefore hang with the people most similar to ourselves. That interpretation seemed rather flat to me though. I prefer my first one.