The other day, as I entered the lab, I heard our manager say 2 words to someone that made my day,
"NO EXPECTATIONS!" - I like it. I needed to hear that. A timely reminder!
Having no expectations is simply letting people, things and all, be who they are, what they are, accepting them as they are and allowing them to grow and find themSELVES! After all, whether people live up to our expectations or not, it really is not the person, but our perspective of the person, that either lives up to our expectations or not! The person doesn't change right there and then. The person will be who he/she is. Having no expectations creates space for everyone. It's truly letting go and that's good.
One time at a job interview, I was asked what my take was on slow learners. As a CLS, I don't think we'd ever make it if we were all slow learners. It's such a tough field to be in. Physicians depend on lab results to make their diagnosis on patients. There is no room for mistakes in the clinical lab. When I was in Ayurveda, holistic medicine, sometimes I would put down western medicine, claiming that patients die of causes other than what their doctors had previously diagnosed, and I would blame the doctors. But we clinical lab scientists have a great responsibility on physicians' decisions as to the diagnosis and treatments of their patients. There is only room for accuracy and speed in the clinical lab with no room for slow learners!
BUT, wait! Let's not be fast on passing judgement! There are slow and there are fast learners everywhere. There are those who learn faster than others, but it doesn't mean they are smarter.
Understanding Ayurveda, (vata, pitta, kapha), and applying it to everyone - some people are "audio", some are "visual" and others "feel", respectively - we are all a combination of each, with some aspects stronger than others. People who are audio are the fastest to learn, but they are also the fastest to forget. Why?? In lectures, training, and the like, as long as they hear, they can grasp and apply the knowledge right there. As soon as the lecture or training stops, their hearing stops, and they forget. They have to hear again and again, until they finally remember. It doesn't mean they're slow to learning. NO! On the contrary, they learn fast, but they also forget fast! It's their nature.
"Take down notes!" everybody says. But this doesn't work for all. Many people are visual, so the concept of taking down notes works for them. Writing is visual (pitta) and those who are visual can and will write down everything. But for me, for example, being vata, audio, I have to listen. Writing distracts me from what I am hearing at the moment. When the lecture finishes, then I can write down, (that's visual!), what I remember immediately after.
On the other hand, hearing and writing do not work well for hands-on people because they have to feel (kapha) everything. They have to "experience". There has to be human interaction, direct participation. Just plain listening and/or taking down notes don't work for them. That's why it seems like they are the slowest to learn. BUT, this doesn't mean they're dull or dumb! Being slow is simply their nature. Like a turtle or a snail, that's their nature. Hands-on people remember the longest!
If we look at all three, everything balances out. We just have to understand our nature, understand each other, and we can have a stress-free environment anywhere!
Back to the interview, I must have intimidated some of the lab staff. I didn't get the job. They hired someone with experience in their specialty field, I was told. (Sound familiar?!). Several months later, I was called back. I must have made sense after all, even without experience.
P.S. How do we know who are audio, visual and feeling people? More on that later. Meanwhile, you can visit my post on OBAMAMANIA, ONE YEAR AGO...(January 2010) It talks a lot from an Ayurvedic point of view.
