I read recently about how important it is for young children (and all of us) to learn the feeling of futility — to know what it is to try something over and over and for it to not work, because it simply can’t. It’s only when we feel futility around changing something external to us that we can learn to change what is still available to us to change: ourselves, and how we internally relate to whatever couldn’t be changed. This strikes me as a kind of persistence, just as much as persistence that does lead to something external changing. If we persist to the point of finding internal harmony and balance, even in the face of things that are futile, so much more is possible. -Rose Gallogly (CLF)
When has the feeling of futility helped you find something else to be possible?