Confusion makes room for the answer

As a student of neuroscience at one of the top universities in the world, I've become very familiar with confusion and frustration. It's unavoidable. I had to wrestle with difficult concepts like electromagnetism, ion equilibrium, neuroanatomy, molecular structure, and the mind. These are difficult concepts that take time and effort to learn, for anyone. Even the "smartest" people in the world had to learn it for the first time.

To learn anything new means to begin with not knowing. And that is surely an uncomfortable feeling. We all know what it feels like to not understand something. "How does everyone else get it?" or "I must be dumb!" or "I'll never understand this!" are common thoughts that I've experienced throughout my life. Then I check my phone and scroll through Twitter.

But what if I stuck with the problem? What if I let those thoughts of loss, less, and never fall away and I focused more intensely on the question. I begin to ask better questions.

"Ok, what does this really mean?"
"What do I already know for sure?"
"What is the most important part to understand?"

I begin to, bit by bit, find stable footing in a cloud of confusion. Question by question, I clear away uncertainty. I solve one problem, and then the next, and then the next. Like hacking away vines and branches in the forest. Maybe I arrive at a greater insight, or maybe I walk face-first into a wall. Either way, I keep hacking away, clearing a path of clarity and understanding. It requires focus and effort. Effort in the right direction.

Keep going down the straight and narrow. Distractions will want to pull you away. Focus on the task at hand until you either finish or fail. And then walk away by your own choosing, only to come back again tomorrow.