Getting pushed around

I hate getting pushed around. It doesn’t matter who tries to do it - the media, school teacher, the government - if they try to mess with me it gets my back up. It creates some interesting challenges in trying to work out how to cope with the external pressure . . .

They categorise me as “creative-gifted”. A phrase that means that I’m in the upper percentile for creativeness - so they say. Us “creatives” have challenges that others don’t. If we can’t do what we’re good at, we can get frustrated and most of the time simply don’t do it.

At high school I took the obligatory five subjects for School Certificate, 5th Form This is the equivalent of NCEA level . . . umm . . . something that I can still never work out! My results follow:

Maths - 89%
Biology - 77%
English - 51%
French - 35%
Latin - 6%

That’s a pretty remarkable spread actually, and indicates the results of a school system that tried to push me around. I didn’t enjoy English or Social Studies (funny that I’m now an author, a natural writer, teacher and am interested in politics and social matters eh?).

As an aside, that Latin score caused me to get really wild with John Higgins a schoolmate who did the same class with me. I thought I could at least beat him in the end of year final exams, but he too got 6% in Latin, so it was a draw. The 6% really doesn’t do justice to the Latin teacher John Staniland, from Kelston Boys High School. He was a great guy and I absolutely loved the Latin class. I was totally hopeless and could never remember the word translations, nor the grammar, nor the various intellectual subjects. I literally barely got past MATER = mother and PATER = father, as can be seen by my final score, but I just soaked up the Roman History, the cultural niceties of the Roman lifestyle.

The poor teacher would walk into a classroom with only five students and ask who had done their homework. The three 6th Form students (all from the top stream, of course) would have done it all with A+ marks (of course) and he’d tell them to turn to page 536 or something from their two inch thick tomes and work by themselves through the next 30 odd pages. He’d then turn to John and myself, start into page 3 of the junior version that had 80% pictures, 15% whitespace and 5% words to make some token effort at teaching Latin to us. Six wrong answers later out of ten questions and he’d just start talking about the Romans and we’d get all interested and ask questions and really learn something. Boy, I loved that guy and that Latin Roman History class!

The point was that I was good at some things and really simply should never have been forced to submit to “Parlez-vous Francais?” or “Veni, Vedi, Vici” or whatever they wanted to push down our throats. My father insisted that I should work on the areas that I was weak in, to bring them up to the standard of the others. No-way. That is definitely not the way to work with creative-gifteds. You gotta let them go-with-the-flow, and encourage them to excel in the areas that they ARE good at and find ways to support them in the others.

One of the beauties of growing older is that we get smarter (well we should, anyway). We get to know more of who we are and why we are on earth; what works; what doesn’t. More and more, I see how important it is for people, all people, not just creative-gifteds to be who they really are, back themselves and excel at what they are good at.

When the media tell me that I have to think a certain way, believe obvious lies, dress a certain way, join behind some politically correct group-think, my blood boils. I listen to them lie and pontificate and try to con us all. Then I do just what I know I can do, in the way that I can eventually face my maker with a clear conscience. Popular? Maybe not all the time. Right? Not always. Easy? Definitely not, certainly some of the time.

Others who might try to sort me out - politically driven, commercially driven, philosophically or religiously driven may be well-meaning, or equally they may be out to manipulate me for their own benefit, but that’s just not going to happen if I have any say in the matter. Speak to my ex-wife who spent 8 years trying to sort me out, and finally gave up in disgust when I stuck to what I knew was good, and proper and right for me and my family!

Its not that I’m arrogant or better than everyone else or that I’m so pig-headed that I will never change, its just that I learn differently and the carrot works far better on me than the stick.

I’ve noticed that the people who respond to social or peer pressure, at the end of the day usually fall victims of manipulation, and later find it hard to learn to take responsibility for themselves. Gambling, drug and alcohol abuse are clear examples. Involvement with cults is another.

It’s a balancing act though. Being true to self, building up a strong mind, choosing determination need to be balanced with the sensitivity to respond to opportunities of growth, and that requires change.

One of the guys I love in the good book is a guy called Pete - aka Cephas “the rock”. I love him because I’m just so like him. He’s a real VICTUS IN AMBITUS character - always charging about getting into everything boots and all. He’s the only guy in the history of the world, apart from The Master, who has ever walked on water. He’s the guy that rounded up his mates and got them all started the journey of their lives - what a role he played in influencing their lives! Sure, he’s also the guy who screwed up and stretched the truth a little bit three times before the rooster crowed. Jesus corrected him more times than all the other disciples put together. He’s the only one of the disciples that Jesus called the devil (ouch!). If ever there was anyone who could get his foot into his mouth, Pete was it. If anyone got in his way, and hurt anybody or anything of value to him, he’d sort them out, quick smart - like as in chop their ear off! But he was also the first preacher after the resurrection, and in due course, even his shadow would heal the sick.

Pete really knew how to live, and I reckon that this was because he really knew and loved his Lord.

Jesus predicted something interesting about this guy. He said that in Pete’s early days, he did whatever he liked, but that things wouldn’t always be that way.

I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
John 21:18-19

The thing was that one of the first things that Jesus did when he showed himself after the resurrection was to come back to Peter, and give him three chances to say sorry and gain forgiveness. Then He set Peter in motion for his ministry. Jesus really knew how to work with one of us crazy creative-gifted guys. He was patient, not pushing him around and into little boxes. He gave him time to learn - in his own way. Then when the time was right, He tethered him to a mighty task, because He needed someone just like Peter for it.

Pete was ready for it by then and really proved himself up to it. I’m absolutely sure that Pete will be getting a couple of big thumbs up from the Father at the end.

That’s VICTUS IN AMBITUS way 2000 years ago and just the same today. Go for it, Pete!!