There is something about being in the “middle” that seems to invoke feelings of mediocrity, of resolution, and finality.

It is a feeling of not having fully arrived.

It seems that we are  “men in the middle”.

Doomed to hold the rank of “middle class”.

Somehow  we will be forever “stuck in the middle.”

“In the middle of nowhere.”

Its not always looked upon as a favorable position.

The middle seems to be at some unidentifiable point between failure and victory.

Remember, Perception is everything.

As so well penned in Jimmy Eat Worlds Lyrics, “The Middle”

“Hey, don’t write yourself off yet. It’s only in your head you feel left out or looked down on. Just do your best (just do your best), do everything you can (do everything you can). And don’t you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say.”

What if we looked at the middle just a bit different

In the middle is where you find the juicy bits.

In the middle sits the stuff of substance.

No one sandwiches bread between meat.

The meat is always found in the middle.

The most sumptuous part of the pie is the delicious filling.

Finishing the pie brings about fulfillment.

The middle is the most delicious.

 The in-between part  

The in-between part (the middle) is the process It is the path to becoming.

It is the stream one must wade through to reach the outer bank.

The one who jumps from end to end, whose feet have never touched the middle, may experience the high of making it. They will never fully appreciate the win, or understand how to get there again.

It is struggling through the process that increases value.

Treading through the middle  builds cognizance , effective methodology, and intuition.

It is where one builds their practice to repeatable mastery. Lessons gained through trial are lessons not soon forgotten.

Working it out

Remember in grade school when teacher’s drilled on the importance of working out the problem.

Even if you got the answer right, you got it wrong because you did not work through it.

Turns out there was a point, after all; a method to the madness.

In life, its not always about the answer

Especially, not getting it right on the first go around.

Few get everything right the first time.

But it always has, and always will be  about how you got there. How you followed the rainbow to reach your pot of gold.

Unfortunately,

John Watzkin, notes in his excellent book  “The Art of learning a journey on the pursuit to Excellence.

“its not about the results, its about what it took to get there”

It is methodical work and effort, work and reworking, that one’s builds a solid foundation upon which success can be repeated.

Passing the test

Passing the test is exhilarating.

Passing the test indicates achievement.

The question one must ask themselves is, what is  the significance of my achievement.

“You may pass the test, but learn absolutely nothing, and most critically, you don’t gain any appreciation for the value or beauty of learning itself” (Watzkin, p. 50).

Even more important than passing the test is learning something in the process.

Stuck in the middle

“Yes I’m stuck in the middle with you, And I’m wondering what it is I should do, It’s so hard to keep this smile from my face, Losing control, yeah, I’m all over the place, Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.” – Stealers Wheel lyrics

1. Don’t give up.
2. Don’t get comfortable.

States are temporary, we move into them and out of them.

It is only when we put down roots that we remain permanent residents of a state, whether it be a physical location or a state of mind.

Most  everyone has to pass through the middle to get to the other side.

We simply must not get stuck there.

“Growth comes at the point of resistance” (Watzkin p. 61).

• Work out the problems
• Sweat it out (in the middle).
• Show your effort.
• Build mastery in the process.
• The end will take care of itself.

Watzkin. J. (2007). The Art of learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence . FreePress. New York: NY.