Summer School

A high school student who fails a class is required to take it again during the summer. Unfortunately, even though I finished high school decades ago, I have had to attend a kind of summer school.

Let me explain:

I have repeatedly flunked out of the following courses: Trust, Flexibility, Hospitality, Tolerance, and Stress Management. I am forced to repeat these classes over and over again in summer school.

Summers, which often mean prolonged visits with extended family members, test my patience and expose my weaknesses. I come unraveled at the seams, revealing my lack of faith. I become inflexible, defiant, inhospitable, and frazzled. All the lessons I previously learned on these subjects are erased from memory. Each summer I have to repeat these same classes over again. I feel like an idiot.

I wonder when I will actually gain mastery over these subjects.

“We go around and around the same mountain instead of making progress. It takes us years to experience victory over something that could, and should, have been dealt with quickly and put behind us.” (Joyce Meyers)

In order to advance to higher levels, I have to first ‘pass’ these pre-requisite classes. Imagining that these lessons are optional is partly why I’m stuck. Even though these lessons are difficult, I must somehow grasp them so I can move on.