How Do You Salt Your Oats?

No matter what age a person may be, no one wants to be told what to do.  In fact, when confronted with the truth, humans will cling to their false beliefs instead.  So, how does a teacher, counselor, or giver-of-advice steer misguided individuals to manifest appropriate beliefs and behaviors?

Many years ago, we teachers attended an outdoor training session at a horse corral.  The presenter was an old cowboy who used his horse to explain the effective process of teaching others.  

The cowboy expanded upon an old saying which still applies to us all even in today’s world:  

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  But, you can put enough salt in its oats so that it has to.”  

Perhaps we stop short of completing the transference process.  Yes, we can offer words of knowledge, but we fail to give ownership for the other person to find awareness on his or her own terms.  

In truth, all we can do as educators is salt the environment with wisdom and let each

learner walk the path on his or her own time-frame.