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Introduction
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Introduction
The author starts off in a rather weak, using the metaphor of the "journey of life" and
suggesting that "peace and contentment" can be found by taking a process-oriented
approach to thinking. He observes that goal-oriented thinking is a learned process - and that
as children people find the world to be a wondrous and enchanting place precisely because
they have no purpose in life except to enjoy living.
Attempting to accomplish something means striving and being dissatisfied in the meantime.
A person who can play the piano well takes pride in the ability, but seldom reflects on the
years of practice it took to develop that skill and the frustration they felt at the difficulty of
the learning process. It was an unpleasant struggle.
Much of life is spent the unpleasant struggle to achieve, being unhappy until we have
finished something and even then taking a very short time to discover some new thing we
want and going through the cycle of unhappiness all over again. We never get to the point
where we have achieved all we wanted and can relax and be happy. We seldom appreciate
the journey, and feel stressed and unhappy far more often than we feel satisfaction in our
lives.
If we could learn to focus on experiencing life - or more aptly, if we can remember how to
do that - we can free ourselves from a great deal of stress and misery. We can learn to feel
happiness before we have reached the goal, and we can be more able to sort out which
goals are worth pursuing. That is the author's purpose in the present book.
marks the destination, which gives you a sense of which direction to move in the moment,
but it doesn't tell you the route, or how to take each step.
Ironically, he mentions the very act of writing this book. He feels that if his goal was to get
to the end of each chapter, he would not do a very good job of exploring the topic of the
present one.
Back to the topic of mistakes: they should not be stressful because they guide you to the
goal. He uses the example of tossing balls into a cup. The first ball doesn't make it into the
cup, but tells you how to adjust your throw on the next one. It may take a number of tries
before you get it quite right, and what you learn from each failure guides you closer to
success in the next try.
Repetition is part of practice, and trial-and-error is necessary to success. But more
importantly, if you are anxious to achieve the goal, you are often failing to pay attention to
what you are doing. Each miss is a failure than brings frustration, not an attempt that
imparts learning.
"Judgment redirects and wastes our energy" when we are predicting the outcome of an
attempt. Even if we are hopeful of a positive outcome, it takes our minds out of the present
moment, causes us to rush, and generally draws our attention from where it needs to be.
It is human nature to be impatient with life. We take action in hopes of achieving an
outcome and, except for leisure activities, we focus on the outcome and fail to experience
the process. It takes great effort to stay "in the moment" - and there's a great deal of
religious teaching that attempts to remind men of the importance of doing so.
Western culture, religion, and philosophy lacks this perspective, and we are taught in every
aspect of life to show great interest for the outcome. The process is an inefficient
inconvenience and we are coached to ignore it almost completely and keep our eyes on the
goal.
The irony of this perspective is that we are so focused on the outcome that we neglect to do
the things that are necessary to achieve it. And worse, we seek to take shortcuts, even at the
expense of ethics, to get what we want faster. It is the reason people cheat, lie, and steal.
But neither does he propose the exact opposite, which is what society seems to do. The
educational system recognizes that grades aren't meaningful, seeks to encourage and reward
participation, and student are even worse off than before. Goals direct our actions, so we
cannot dispense with one for the sake of the other - but instead seek to accommodate both.
Another personal account follows about the author's struggle as a student, his desire to do
better and frustration at his inability. Grades were the measure of success but provided no
guidance for the process of learning. And so he developed a dread of math and a sense of
inadequacy. This is not at all uncommon among students. And the attempts of the
educational system to address the problems have been entirely misguided and uneffective and so they do more of the same: more homework, more testing, more pressure on the
student to somehow improve his learning from a system that will not improve its teaching
methods.
He shifts to the commercial sector, particularly in the rise of Japan as an industrial
superpower. The Japanese have a long-standing cultural tradition of being process-oriented
at attempting to do things perfectly by placing very intense focus on the activities that lead
to an outcome. While the west is concerned with piece-count, Japan is concerned with
perfection - and it is perfectly acceptable in their culture to spend quite a lot of time
achieving the best outcome. The blacksmith who invests six months in a single sword is not
a laggard, but a craftsman whose skill is respected. And as proof of the value of this
perspective, consider their unquestioned dominance in the consumer electronics industry.
There's a brief mention of the western focus on instant gratification and the credit-card
culture of getting things right away without the necessity of earning them - and the grave
damage that has done to many in a culture of debt. Leap to the brevity of happiness that is
produced because the novelty wears off quickly. Leap to the pleasure of anticipation, and
the feeling of accomplishment that lingers when we have worked hard to earn something.
Another shift to corporate management, specifically the way in which interest in short-term
profits undermines the long-term health of the organization and its employees. The present
financial crisis, and arguably every crisis for the past few centuries, stems from the same
perspective.
He insists that most people will agree that these attitudes are pervasive and
counterproductive, but that they feel that it is unstoppable and unwilling to change their
own habits. His hope is that the reader has come realize this and is genuinely interested in
making a positive change.
It's impossible to see oneself when we are in this state, but it's likely we have seen this in
others: people who play video games become very zoned into what they are doing,
completely oblivious to the outside world or any future event. People can get the same way
while watching a movie or reading a book, or absorbed in other recreational activities. For
many, part of the pleasure is being deeply engaged.
Interestingly, we tend to give full focus to things that are not particularly productive or
important - and this is because we choose to do so. When attending to a necessary task, we
are eager to complete the task and not very focused on the process. When we engage in
pleasant activity, we plan for it and seek to immerse ourselves fully.
He refers to the Zen concept of the "beginner's mind" in which a person who is doing
something for the first time must focus their full concentration on getting it right - and as
they become more adept at an activity it is not necessary to give it full attention and they
become lackadaisical and inattentive. In essence, they are on "autopilot" and this is where
mistakes and accidents occur. (EN: The notion of "highway hypnosis" comes to mind as a
good example.)
Aside of the danger of failing to focus on tasks such as driving or operating heavy
equipment, there is also a lack of satisfaction that comes from failing to ne engaged even in
a pleasant activity. Imagination is not as engaging as the stimulation of our senses, and that
stimulation only occurs in the present moment.
He also notes that in the workplace, we seek to avoid failure rather than achieve success.
We do not seek satisfaction from doing good work, but instead seek to avoid the
punishment for failure to complete work on time and to meet the expectations others have
of us. The fear of being reprimanded or fired, fear of the negative effects to the family that
depends on our income, etc. creep into our minds and rob us of any satisfaction.
This also brings to mind the way in which work degrades quality of life even when a person
is not on the job. The stress they experience in the office bleeds into their home life, such
that they cannot be in the moment when spending time with family, but are always thinking
of things at the office.
He mentions the profession of acting. Method actors are "in character" and deliver
compelling performances by immersing themselves in their role. They are not distracted by
themselves, but in the role of the fictional character and the moment in the drama that they
are portraying. Most people have difficulty doing that in their real lives.
The author's advice is simply to endeavor to be process-oriented, even in work that is
mundane or unpleasant. Keep your mind on the present and retrain your focus when you
find yourself thinking about other things or other times. Be attentive to what you are doing
at each moment. "This produces inner peace and you accomplish more with less effort."
He admits this is not the easiest thing to do, but it's worthwhile - and it also takes practice
to compel your mind to focus. It will become easier over time.
trigger. The trigger may not be his remark, but the "pop" of emotion you feel. Instead of
letting that result in a negative response, associate it to a behavior (such as remaining silent
for a few seconds while you consider a proper reply).
(EN: No mention here as to how one might practice this - seems to be something that is
done in real-time, or something one fails to do. Perhaps it's a not a very good example
because it requires another person to invoke the trigger? If your goal is to be presentminded, that's entirely internal.)
He shifts to another habit - such as watching too much television - in which you could
focus on associating the act of picking up the remote control and learn to associate it with a
different choice than turning on the television right away. (EN: Physical habits like this are
easier to address by making some change to the object. Putting the remote in a different
place, keeping it in a sleeve, or gluing a grain of rice to the power button will also cause
there to be something a little different that gives a person pause and reminds them to stop
and think.)
The author shares a story about taking lessons from a very talented pianist who felt he
needed to work harder or he would "never get really good on the piano." While his teacher
was quite accomplished compared to the novice, he still had the mindset of a student who
could always be better at his craft. In addition to coaching him to be better, the teacher gave
him the ability to witness his own progress and take satisfaction in the process of learning
to play.
He also mentions in his own music study that he lays out long-term plans. When he is
frustrated with a bad practice session and feels hopeless, he is able to review the plans he
made long before and recognize how far along he had come. Things always seem very hard
until we've done them, and if you think back to the way you felt overwhelmed at the start of
something you have already finished, you will be astounded by the progress you have
made.
The notion that perfection is impossible should not be discouraging. What it means is that
you will never run out of room to grow. "We have seriously missed the boat with this whole
concept in our culture."
Stirner considers the "self-playing organ," a product that was designed for people who
wanted to learn to play, but also wanted to make music right away. Pressing a few keys
would play part or all of a popular song - it could play the left-hand part so you could play
the right, or vice versa, or both at once so you didn't have to do anything. The organs sold
very well, but people didn't use them much. He mentions seeing a few gathering dust in
peoples' homes, but he never saw anyone actually play one.
Said another way, cheating discipline doesn't work. You might fool a few people into
thinking you have a skill, but you'll feel all the worse for being a sham on top of being a
failure. And your own sense of accomplishment at faking the results is sapped by the
knowledge that you did not actually achieve them.
He also mentions credit cards as a form of instant gratification - which is to say they offer
short-term gratification and long-term disappointment. They are the way to have the end
results without making the effort, so that you have a chance to be disappointed by
something before you have earned it. Many people get into deep trouble with debt in this
way, and take little satisfaction from it. Just as with the self-playing organ, it is a way to
cheat yourself from the necessity of earning it.
To the author, the joy and pride in accomplishment is that the "thing" you now possess is
the result of a longer process of earning it. Rewards that come at no cost are worth their
price in terms of the satisfaction earned: next to nothing.
The advice he offers is to pick a goal that you wish to achieve, mark the steps of the
journey to get there, and review your plan periodically to gain the satisfaction of having
made progress toward that goal. Of particular importance is to focus on the process and not
the goal.
By so doing you will free yourself of the frustration of your constant failure to achieve the
end, and feel empowered at your constant success in getting incrementally closer to it. This
is very empowering.
Simple - The mind becomes paralyzed by complexity, and while many issues are
complex they can be simplified, broken down components that are far more
manageable than the whole. Reducing complex matters to simple steps helps to
make them manageable and avoid mental fatigue.
Small - A very simple task may still be very large, and overwhelming by virtue of
its size. Large things can similarly be broken down into small ones to better focus
the mind and avoid procrastination. For example, cleaning the garage is such a huge
task that most people avoid it, but sorting through the items on one shelf is
manageable - so do that, then look for something else that can be done easily.
Short - A simple and small task may still take a long time to finish, so focus instead
on short bursts of activity, ten minutes to an hour, that presents a more manageable
chunk of time. Consider the garage-cleaning example: it might take three days, or it
can be done an hour a day over the course of a month.
Slow - Work at a pace that allows you to pay attention to what you are doing.
Rushed work is bad work, and needs to be repeated (or the poor results become
discouraging), but working at a steady page enables you to do things once and do
them right. The paradox here is that by trying to work slowly, you will often
complete tasks more quickly and with less effort because your actions are focused.
Going slowly will also change your perception of time's passage because you will
devote your energy to what you are doing and lose your sense of time.
From there, he speaks of putting these to work in his job as a piano tuner, which is a bit
protracted and fussy, but some of the details are worth preserving:
His primary focus was on working slowly - taking out one tool at a time, placing it
gently into position, making each of his motions slow and deliberate, then replacing
it in his kit carefully.
Doing so caused him great anxiety and the sense he was wasting time rather than
moving quickly enough, but he choked that back and continued to move slowly. It
took a lot of concentration just to hold himself back.
In time, the anxiety died down and he began to enjoy the pace. He applied the same
effort to being slow in unnecessary motions, such as walking and eating.
He had taken off his watch to avoid checking the time, and did not discover until he
glanced at the clock in his truck and the end of the hob that he had actually shaved
40% of the usual time. He felt he must have been an hour late, but had actually
worked faster.
He attributes the seeming speed to the elimination of waste - one tool at a time
meant less time sorting through a clutter, one string at a time meant he got it right
the first time, etc.
Focusing on slow also fed the other three: the task became simple, small, and short
as he concentrated on tuning each string.
He also notes that he accomplished much that day, and did not feel at all stressed or
overworked at the end of it.
He's applied this technique to other parts of his life - simply not rushing through things. It is
difficult to do so because our culture demands "faster" and we become automated in many
activities and fail to pay attention. At the onset, it requires a great deal of effort just forcing
yourself to remain slow and steady, but over time it becomes second nature to be "in the
moment."
There's some mention that our ideas change over time. What would be ideal at age five is
different to age ten, to twenty, to thirty, and so on. The notion that we will do something
perfectly and never have to do it over again is nonsensical. There is nothing we can do that
will make us happy forever, just for a time.
The author's suggestion for overcoming judgment is to attempt to become an observer - to
witness what is happening and delay making judgment, as if attempting to listen objectively
to one person's account, knowing that you will later hear the accounts of others and will
need to be fair in your assessment.
This works because even when you are thinking on something, you are only hearing one
person's account - your own internal monologue. And moreover you may be listening to
someone who is upset, in a bad mood, or thinking of things in a subjective and distorted
manner. When you think about them later, you often realize how wrong you were in the
heat of the moment.
Judging things as you experience them adds a layer of mental processing to the task of
observation, and requires more mental work later to untangle your own perceptions. It also
applies your mental filters and causes you to miss important details. You were so busy
judging what you saw in one second that you failed to notice what happened in the next.
It is important to remain calm when listening to your inner voice, just as you would when
allowing someone who is upset rant and rave - knowing that if you listen quietly and
unaffected they will eventually come to their senses.
You are not merely a passive listener to your inner voice, but you are also the speaker. In
that sense most people have some experience calming themselves in a stressful situation.
Gearing up for a job interview or an unpleasant discussion is a process of taking hold of
your emotions in order to be calm. In those situations, we are meditating - whether we
realize it or not. We are taking ourselves out of the situation to think about the situation,
quiet our minds, and prepare to proceed in a calm and steady manner.
This is something that can be practiced more often, on a daily basis - and through practice it
will become our nature. Just as the pilot learns to practice emergency procedures to regain
control of his craft, a person learns the procedures to regain control of his own mind.
opposite, focused on their posture and motions to the point that they seemed not to care
whether they hit the target - and they were much better as a result.
Archery is very close to the "throwing balls into a can" task Stirner mentioned before: you
take a shot and adjust the next one to be closer to the target. If you do not pay attention to
what you are doing while taking the shot, you will not know how the outcome was
achieved or the specific adjustments you need to make.
Applying the DOC model to mental processes requires you to be aware of your patterns of
thought, considering whether they are effective, and adjusting them to be more effective. It
does not mean interfering with your patterns right away, and it is not an instant correction.
Just as with archery, your goal is to get your thinking closer to the target than the previous
time. And just as with practicing, it's hardest at the onset and becomes better over time,
until the habit becomes ingrained.
Here, Stirner tells a personal story of blocking several weeks for a major project that was
cancelled at the last minute - and as a self-employed specialists, this was a significant
disappointment, and using the do-observe-correct method he was able to get himself into a
more positive and proactive state of mind rather than merely fretting about the problem.
(EN: The details of the example seem a bit odd, and could muddle more than clarify the
concept.)
The end bit compares the process of training your mind to that of training for a marathon:
you don't go out the first day and try to run a three-hour race. Instead you work in shorter
practice sessions at slower paces and gradually build up ... and as in all things, appreciate
your progress along the way.
Children are very much "in the moment" and tend not to think of the future
Children don't want to do anything that isn't fun right away
Children don't see the point of practicing and want instant gratification. Hwoever if
the practice itself is fun they will become deeply engrossed in it.
Children have to be taught the importance of "playing well" rather than winning
Children have few prejudices and preconceptions
Children don't think anything is impossible without trying, and they quite often do
things that no-one would expect they were capable of
Children let their emotions get the best of them, but can be calmed if made to slow
down and think
Some of these childlike behaviors are valuable to adults, others represent childish behaviors
we would do well to outgrow.
(EN: There follows some random advice for parenting, largely stemming from the way in
which children are being treated like little adults, what with their days being jammed by
schooling and scheduled leisure activities. This too becomes wistful and hackneyed.)
The author of this book, Thomas M. Sterner, is a Piano technician for a major performing
arts center. The author admits that , in his career spanning 25 years, he had faced a lot of
challenges to keep himself disciplined and focused (considering the act of tuning and
maintaining a piano , an instrument that has 88 notes , is repetitious and tedious by nature).
Over a period of time, the author develops a mindset that has kept him productive.Through
this book, Sterner tells his method of remaining disciplined.
Process not the Product
In any form of practice, it is important to focus on the process and not on the product. There
are umpteen variations of this statement that one gets to hear.The author does acknowledge
this fact but goes on to add his own flavor to this statement. He uses music as an example to
show that focusing on the process takes care of the product , but not vice-versa. He says
Keep yourself process-oriented. Stay in the present. Make the process the goal and use the
overall goal as a rudder to steer you efforts. Be deliberate, have an intention about what you
want to accomplish, and be aware of that intention. Doing these things will eliminate the
judgments and emotions that come from a product-oriented or results-oriented mind.
Its How You Look At It
The author gives a beautiful analogy of a flower to shift ones perspective towards
everything in life. He says
Ask yourself: at what point in a flower's life, from seed to full bloom, has it reached
perfection? Let's look at this right now and see what nature is teaching us every day as we
walk past the flowers in our garden. At what point is a flower perfect? Is it when it is
nothing more than a seed in your hand waiting to be planted? All that it will ever be is there
in that moment. Is it when it first starts to germinate unseen under several inches of the
soil? This is when it displays the first visible signs of the miracle we call creation. How
about when it first pokes its head through the surface and sees the face of the sun for the
first time? All of its energies have gone into reaching for this source of life; until this point,
it has had nothing more than an inner voice telling it which way to grow to find it. What
about when it begins to flower? This is when its own individual properties start to be seen.
The shape of the leaves, the number of blooms are all unique to just this one flower, even
among the other flowers of the same species. Or is it the stage of full bloom, the crescendo
of all of the energy and effort it took to reach this point in its life? Lets not forget that
humble and quiet ending when it returns to the soil from where it came. At what point is the
flower perfect? I hope you already know that the answer is that it is always perfect.
Using this example, the author suggests that by following present-minded approach , one
can experience a tremendous relief from the fictitious, self-imposed pressures and
expectations that only slow ones progress.
Perception Changes Create Patience
Patience is probably at the top of everyones list of most sought-after virtues. One of the
reasons that we become impatient is we step out of the NOW There is a saying that states
that most of what we worry about never comes to pass. Thinking about a situation before
you are in it only scatters your energy. The first step toward patience is to become aware of
when your internal dialog is running wild and dragging you with it. If you are not aware of
this when it is happening, which is probably most of the time, you are not in control. The
second part is understanding and accepting that there is no such thing as reaching a point
of perfection in anything. True perfection is both always evolving and at the same time
always present within you, just like the flower.
Progress is a natural result of staying focused on the process of doing anything. When you
stay on purpose, focused in the present moment, the goal comes to you with frictionless
ease. However, when you constantly focus on the goal you are aiming for, you push it away
instead of pulling it toward you. In every moment of your struggle, by looking at the goal
and constantly referencing your position to it, you are affirming to yourself that you havent
reached it. You only need to acknowledge the goal to yourself occasionally, using it as a
rudder to keep you moving in the right direction.
Suppose you are trying to learn how to play a piece of music and you come from this new
perspective. Your experience will be totally different than what we usually think of in terms
of learning to play a musical instrument. In the old way, you are sure that you are not going
to be happy or successful until you can play the piece of music flawlessly. Every wrong
note you hit, every moment you spend struggling with the piece, is an affirmation that you
have not reached your goal. If, however, your goal is learning to play the piece of music,
then the feeling of struggle dissolves away. With each moment you spend putting effort into
learning the piece, you are achieving your goal. An incorrect note is just part of learning
how to play the correct note; it is not a judgment of your playing ability. In each moment
you spend with the instrument, you are learning information and gaining energy that will
work for you in other pieces of music. Your comprehension of music and the experience of
learning it are expanding. All of this is happening with no sense of frustration or
impatience. What more could you ask for from just a shift in perspective?
Four S words - Simplify, Small, Short and Slow
The author shows the interconnectedness between these words and the way these 4 words
can be used to structure any work, be it following a fitness regimen / coding an algo /
playing an instrument / cleaning up the house etc. Any task that is overwhelming at the first
sight, might put us off and sometimes we tend to permanently shelve it. But once we
simplify the goal, divide this simplified goal in small sections, do these sections in short
durations at a slow pace, paradoxically , we get far more things done efficiently. This might
sound all very obvious, but then it is relevant to ask oneself a question, When was the last
time you did all the four things Simplified a project, Took a small section, worked on it
for a short time and more importantly slowly ? More than any other place, I can relate this
to music. You cant master a raaga without the 4 components mentioned. You have to
simplify the goal of a 1.5 hr typical rendition of a raaga, Divide in to small sections
,Practice on one of the the small sections in a short interval , lets say 45 min, and more
importantly practice it slowly. My Sitar guru was mentioning the other day about
Budhaditya Mukherjee, a Sitar Maestro. In an interview, when asked about his practice
regimen, he replied that he practiced 3 hrs in the morning and 3 hrs in the evening and more
importantly , he does it EVERY SINGLE DAY. Unlike Ravi Shankars of the world who
quote that they practice 15 hrs 20 hrs a day, which seems to be practically impossible for
a human being, Budhaditya Mukherjees ritual sounds more pragmatic and realistic. In the
same interview, he also mentions that a combination of Simplify + Small + Short and Slow
are quintessential to master a raaga.
Equanimity and DOC
Calmness and even-tempered are the words that go along with equanimity. These are the
characteristics that are desirable when we are working on something. However there is an
evil beast called Judgement that sometimes jumps upon us.Judgment is inevitable in our
lives, but it becomes pathological when we overdo it. Most of times we overdo it. We
judge everything in life and most of it unconsciously. We imagine hypothetical scenarios
and think about the possible outcomes and possible judgments that we would make / others
would make in such scenarios. Its like running simulations to create parallel worlds and
checking the parameter values. It is good in statistics as alternate worlds gives confidence
intervals on parameters. It is detrimental when we are working on something as it robs us
from the NOW. It happens to all of us. We are doing something, be it running/ reading /
programming/ playing an instrument etc. Instead of just being in the present, we start
judging it. We are thinking of the next activity that needs to be done / we think of some odd
conversation with someone/ we imagine hypothetical situations etc. We try to engage
ourselves unconsciously in things that have nothing to do with what we are CURRENTLY
doing. The judgement gives rise to emotions and they stem from a sense that this is right
and that is wrong or this is good and that is bad. Right and good make us happy while
bad and wrong make us upset or sad. We feel that right and good are at least approaching
ideal, while wrong and bad are moving away from it. We all want to be happy and have
an ideal life, but what constitutes right and wrong is neither universal nor constant. The
evaluations and judgments we make unconsciously in every second of our lives jump-start
our emotions and bring us so much anxiety and stress.What can be done about it ? Doing
work with out judgement part is far more effective as the execution of the task would be
that much more clinical.
The author suggests meditation as a means to get out of this ever-judgmental mode of
mind. He also offers another adjunct method,which he calls DOC Do + Observe +
Correct. He gives anecdotes and experiences from his work as a Piano technician that
bring out the importance of DOC to perform tasks efficiently. Using DOC repetitively for
most of the tasks that we do in our daily lives, it is possible to remove judgement that
clouds our thinking and execution. The C in the DOC refers more to evaluation and not
judgment. Evaluation comes before the action of passing judgement. After evaluation, you
skip the judgement part and then go over DOC cycle, as judgment has no value in DOC
mindset.
Teach and Learn from Children
Time perception is an integral part of the difference between adults and children. In general,
Children dont seem to have a sense of where they are going in life. There is today and
thats it. They live in the present moment, but not really by their own choice; its just how
they are. So, making them do any activity like learning to play an instrument / work on
something which takes time and effort to master, is difficult as they dont see a point in
doing it. There is no instant gratification in learning math / learning an instrument. It is
usually an activity which will involve a lot of struggle/failures etc. So,there is a paradox
here. Whats frustrating as an adult, with regard to teaching them to stay in the present
when they are engaged in something that requires perseverance, is that they cant see the
point. Why work at something that requires a long-term commitment, a perception of time
outside the present moment? Children are always in the NOW and adults find it difficult to
be in the NOW. Is there something that Parents and Children can learn and teach each other
? The author shares his experiences in dealing with her two daughters in this context.