Learning Curve, Part 2

I figured out why, at least in part, I have such a shallower learning curve for life lessons than I did for math ones. The answer is simply that I don't want to learn them as much. With math, I wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. It wasn't even to show off or to feel smart; it was because I liked the challenge and saw the beauty of math. I wanted to learn almost everything I could.

Also, life lessons are often seen as humbling experiences. We can see sometimes how they make us stronger, but we still see the potential payoff in ignoring the lessons we've been taught. For example, "I know I've spent too freely in the past and it's caused me to barely scrape by, but this concert is for my favorite band. I can't pass up buying a ticket, even at $100."

So with math, I saw no payoff to not learning (since even playing outside paled in comparison to going through math problems to me; I know, I was an odd kid.) and I wanted the lesson because I could see the benefit. With life lessons, the payoff is more readily seen in ignoring them, and then the lesson is humbling once I have ignored the previous lessons.

This leads me to the next question: how do I want the things of God more? How can I want them enough to be willing to learn my lessons through instruction and study rather than experience or, worse, not learning them at all? It may be a little longer before I come up with an answer to this one...