For those of you who never experienced the "joys" of weight training, it hurts. A lot. The idea behind weight training is simple. One contorts the body by the repeated application of severe stress so that bone, muscle, and sinews are slightly injured and then rebuilt in a more potent conformation. The sweat spent results in a better body machine, and in an improved performance on the field.

Naturally, coaches are there to support you in the quest for more heft, and they are there to assist the recovery effort after your demolished carcass has collapsed in total exhaustion. Such help, of course, consists almost entirely of witty repartee at your expense rather than material assistance in lifting the weights. Our personal favorite display of empathy was the phrase, "It’ll feel better when it quits hurting." Yeah, thanks. That really helps. Please pass the ice pack. However, the usual expression of the weight lifters’ credo imparted by our coaches was the curt aphorism, "No pain, no gain." In other words, if you don’t push beyond your personal comfort zone, you don’t get the full benefit of the workout.

The Pain of Learning

Why wax rhapsodic on the ecstasies of weight training? Because as weight training is to the body, so is learning to the mind and spirit. Exercise strengthens the physique. Learning stretches the mind and expands the soul.

When Great Books editor Mortimer Adler tackled the subject of learning, he entitled the article "An Invitation to the Pain of Learning." Adler understood that genuine learning requires not only time spent with one’s nose in a book but rigorous effort to transfer the Great Ideas from the book to the brain. He recognized that mere perusal was not sufficient to produce deep learning, the kind of learning that can transform not only one’s mind but one’s entire life.

In short, the weight lifter’s philosophy of "no pain, no gain" also applies to learning. In fact, the expression "no pain, no gain" is the first essential principle of learning. If you don’t exert yourself in the learning process, you don’t breech the self-imposed constraints that limit your psyche to its current breadth and depth. In one of the Dirty Harry detective movies, Clint Eastwood’s ill-tempered cop stated, "A man’s got to know his limitations." This assertion holds a large dollop of truth. That said, knowing one’s limitations is only a part of the learning agenda. Once you know, you get to choose. You can elect to either accept your limitations as an unalterable legacy from Fate, or you can opt to overcome your limitations with all your mind and spirit until you have conquered them and moved beyond.

Resources:

• Youth v. Teenager, by Michael Platt
• Introductory Adult Classics Reading List
• Sample Discussion/Essay Questions