Stop Trying to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!

     We’ve often heard the proverbial phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” It simply means you cannot make people change their established patterns of opinion and behavior (Google). Throughout my life, I’ve discovered it to be true countless times.

    
    Oftentimes, we expect other people to receive our teaching/training by graciously acquiescing to the lesson.  In other words, if we have taught them to pick up after themselves and to put things in their proper place - we expect that it should be done.  Reasonably speaking, there will be some trial and error.  However, given time, we expect progress to be made until the objective is ultimately met.

    
    When this does NOT happen, we are often left feeling angry, frustrated, rejected, unappreciated, and taken for granted.  I’ve come to discover that there are times when it would be wise to assess the situation to determine if it is even worth subjecting ourselves to these pathetic emotions.  To properly assess the situation, we must consider three things: 1)the audience (Who are we targeting?), 2)the objective (What is the desired outcome?), and 3)the probability (Is it a reasonable expectation of the lesson?)

    
    Firstly, let’s look at the audience.  In teaching the lesson/skill, the following must be considered: 

• Is the targeted audience capable of receiving the information/learning the skill?

• If they are capable, then proceed.

    
    What I’ve come to discover is that (often) we are left with those unpleasant, pathetic emotions (anger, frustration, rejection, feeling unappreciated, and taken for granted) when we fail to realize that some people can’t be changed nor trained.  Perhaps, they are:

• People who refuse to be taught.

• People who are set in their ways.

• People who think that they already know everything.

    Whenever you’re dealing with these groups of people, it is best to conclude that it is HIGHLY likely that you are wasting your time!

    Secondly, we must consider the audience.  Is this lesson/skill appropriate for this audience?  Sometimes, the audience does NOT have the foundation necessary for the lesson/skill.  If the audience does not have the foundation, the foundation must be established before additional lessons/skills can be taught.

    Thirdly, we must consider the probability of the desired outcome.

    

• Is it likely/unlikely that the objective will be achieved given considerable time?

• Is the objective reasonable?  With all things being fair, it is reasonable to expect a six year- old to wash her/his hands before leaving the bathroom.  On the other hand, it is NOT reasonable to expect a six-year old to solve a mathematical equation that involves algebraic expressions.

There are times when the probability of the audience learning the lesson/skill is not great.  When that happens, just KNOWING the following is often beneficial:

• The teacher/instructor can continue to teach - hoping that some of the lesson/skill will hopefully stick.

• The teacher/instructor can modify the expected outcome.

    As we move into the new year, we are going to face some challenges. And with these challenges, there will be tough decisions that must be made. Most of us (at some point in our lives or another) have demonstrated EXACTLY what we expect from others.  We have modeled our expectations over and over again.  We have been living testimonies of what we want from others.  Those of us who are believers have done just as the Messiah taught us to do - we have led by example.  And many times (sadly), to no avail!

When it does not seem as if any progress has been made, there are times when we have to abandon that assignment and move on to a different assignment.  Somebody once said, “stop beating a dead horse”.  In other words, stop wasting effort, energy and time trying to do something that can’t be done - at least, by human effort.

Because time is valuable, most of us don’t like wasting it.  Once a day is over and the darkness of midnight fades into the dawn of a new day - the previous day can never be recovered.

Therefore, we must use each day wisely and never take a day for granted.  The Most High God has given us a brand new day, a brand new month and a brand new year.  Don’t waste each day trying to teach an old dog new tricks!