Comprehension

I have been blessed with a high level of comprehension. I have seen people struggle with this and wondered why, and how would one improve their comprehension skills? After reading several articles on the subject it seems as though I am not the only one that wonders about this. Apparently comprehension is a life skill that is very difficult to teach. Several factors play into why one student is better at this then another, but in my mind it all boils down to abstract thought. If a person can relate the text they are reading to something, anything then the text becomes enjoyable and the reader is drawn in. When the text is riddled with words the reader struggles to define, that reader quickly losses interest and turns to something else. This is evident to me more so now then ever. The larger ones useful vocabulary is the better I feel their comprehension skills are. They do not have to pause to understand the words in the text and can take in the piece as a hole rather than stopping to understand what a word means and try to figure out how it fits in the text.

At work we communicate with the manufacturer thru a system call Contact Management. This system breaks each instance down to subcategories to be sure the right people are handling the problem. The challenge to this system is that the spoken word carries with many nuances that allow the speaker to infer meaning by changing the delivery of the word. This is lost all together with contact management. Also here in the blog setting the writer needs to be skilled to purvey the proper tone of the writing or risk losing the reader amidst the confusion. At times I feel the information world suffers from this, people infer their own situation to a piece of writing, in most cases our first instinct is to be defensive. This almost always leads us into defending our position when the writer did not intend to put the reader on the defensive, this can be best demonstrated by the constant Facebook drama that finally drove me away from Facebook. The medium does not lend itself well to these volatile conversations. When people that have problems expressing themselves with spoken words try to describe the same feelings and thoughts with written words nothing good can come of it. Unless I am asked to look at something there I would rather not visit it.

Last week was a mediocre week at best. I had completely abandoned the goal book buy Wednesday and never even stepped foot into the basement. As far as experiences and family matters, last week was a great week, I was entertained at both Julianne’s and Kenneth’s spring concerts. I was able to help my wife and got to see her hard work pay off in the color run and I was introduced to new things!

This week I set one goal and only one goal! Eat better. Today I achieved that goal. As I introduced you to the Apostles Fast yesterday I began that journey today. I have offered the sacrifice of not eating meet to our Lord so that he can show me the strength I have to conquer these cravings. Today was a very successful day, Breakfast was Juice, Lunch was Juice, Dinner was 4 small potatoes and a large salad, croutons and french dressing. Nothing else crossed my lips this day! I prayed for strength this afternoon as I sat at my desk craving the popcorn only feet away from me. I asked for something to take the thoughts of it from my mind. I listened to several podcasts about the Apostles Fast and why it is celebrated. I explained what it was yesterday but to add to those thoughts, I am beginning to see the ebb and flow of the Liturgical year, the Fasts leading to the Celebrations, the Celebrations leading to Fasts. It is a cycle meant to keep us centered, to teach us about the will of God and to put aside our personal will for his. I have been learning so much recently that I am excited to share these thoughts with you each time I write an entry.

In short I hope I am skilled enough that you, my readers are enjoying my thoughts. I do enjoy writing and this surprises me as much as it does some of you. I hope you continue to come back to read my ramblings and I hope that maybe some of my trials and tribulations help you in your struggle some way. Thank you for liking the posts and most of all for reading them. If you are enjoying this so far don’t be afraid to like the post or to challenge my writing, I appreciate positive criticism and look forward to challenging conversations. If you are moved to share my words please do so, the greatest gift I can be given is to have made a positive impact on my fellow brothers and sisters! May God bless each of you! Thank you.