A Juggling Act

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4, NIV).

One of the things I remember most about middle school is learning how to juggle. My PE teacher, the infamous Mr. Newton, spent a lot of time teaching us this skill and I’m so grateful. I think it’s a lost art, and although it doesn’t come into play much in my daily life now, it taught me so much as a kid, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. 

Learning to juggle isn’t easy, but it’s a proven, effective way to improve hand-eye coordination. Without getting into too much neuroscience, learning to juggle actually improves brain health. More than that, it teaches us how to utilize several skills that will benefit us throughout our lives.

Discipline. Failure. Perseverance. Practice to achieve mastery. Input = output.  

Discipline is required in order to learn how to juggle. It’s not a skill you learn overnight, and it requires intentional, consistent effort in order to improve. You cannot learn without discipline.  

Failure is an inevitable part of the learning process. If you’re willing to say yes to learning how to juggle, prepare yourself, because you will fail many, many times before you actually get it right. And even more before you’re able to master the task. 

Perseverance, which is required when something is hard, comes into play, too. There will be moments when you want to give up instead of pushing through to fully master the skill. 

There is no instant gratification when it comes to learning to juggle. In order to be the best of anything, practice is required to achieve mastery, and it often takes time to see the results. 

Input = output. As with most things in life, whatever you put into learning the skill affects what you will get out of it. If you value the skill, you’ll be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes in order to learn. And, as a result, the level of your skill will reflect that. 

I am a big fan of juggling. It impacted my athletic skills in a significant way as a kid, and I think contributed to some of my success because of everything it taught me. 

As an adult, I value juggling for different reasons now. I am reminded of James 1:2-4: 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

In some ways, learning to juggle will require you to walk through a process that helps prepare you for some of the experiences you will encounter as an adult. 

It requires one to step into learning a difficult skill, knowing you will face failure and trials. It will test your resolve as you learn something new, but that testing will produce perseverance. And if you allow it, that perseverance will eventually help you to mature, both in the art of juggling, and for the trials you will face in life. I certainly believe God used it to help me in that way.