Stick with it.

A friend posted an article this morning about the one difference between kids who excel at math and those who don't, which has prompted some nice discussion about the subject among myself and friends. After reading it, I wondered, what can we take away from the article when interacting with individuals who have already checked out on things like math?

But here's another perspective, from a friend who says he was reminded of an aphorism from judo: "A little girl complains to a judo coach that "judo is hard". The coach agrees with her and explains that we do it to make ourselves better people." This friend noted that that's how he thinks about judo, math, and randonneuring.

It's definitely also a useful perspective to remember when sciencing gets difficult.