After having lapsed for the better part of the summer, I’m back at it, practicing Morse code once again. The departure was a mixture of pure exhaustion and the feeling of getting really stuck in the doldrums. There was a dash of rationalization in there as well. Convincing myself that Morse code and radio would be there whenever I chose to come back to it.

So why am I back? That’s the more interesting thing. My own learning pattern is to get really excited about something but then sort of flame out somewhere in the long middle. This may sound familiar. I don’t think that I’m an exaggerated outlier here; people wane in their attempts to do things. Learning Morse, for me, is an indicator of my ability to really drill on something that I find difficult. My thinking goes that, if I really want to, can I learn something that’s definitely uphill for me? Can I muster the raw sitzfleish to get things done?

There are lots of things that fit this description:

  • Get to the gym the appropriate number of times per week.
  • Play piano.
  • Learn a foreign language.
  • Teach myself more about embedded software development.

Sure there’s an element of inherent enjoyment in each of those things. But, the majority of the benefit from these comes only after doing the work. And work’s hard.