To be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid. When I turned on my computer yesterday morning that poster appeared on my wall, or is it timeline ? Whatever you call it, it was on the screen. I found it serendipitous because of a statement I had made the day before. I was chatting with a friend about things in general. She had remarked about a younger person not realizing when she was in a bad relationship. My response was that was because this person was a teenager or young adult and when you are that age you know everything ! Then I said, " we need to know it all before we can begin to learn. " That is the same concept as that poster. And I submit, the same truth. It is only through experience that we can truly learn. The secret lies in accepting that admission.
When we are children going to school we are conditioned to knowing the answers. That is why we take tests isn't it ? To test our knowledge. This habit of, knowing the answers, begins to prevade our thinking. If we are receiving passing grades we begin to think we know the answers. After a bit, especially after high school, we believe we know it all. Strange how that works. Then, for a few years anyway, we are convinced we have all the answers. That is until something goes wrong !. First thing we do is look to blame someone else. It cannot be our fault, we know the answers. And to make matters worse there are those around us that try to " help. " They tell us stuff like ,we should have known better. How could anyone had known ? What am I , a fortune teller ? No, I'm right and everyone else is wrong. That is the thought process when you are young. Old people just don't know or have forgotten.
I can laugh about it now because I do remember, and I am an older person. I admit it took me a while to begin to understand about answers. Hint : there is more than one correct answer. Situation and context must be taken into consideration. Also, get ready for this revelation, other peoples feelings and opinions. Yes, it's true, they may be right and I may be wrong. It is the acceptance of those variables that begins the real learning process. Yup, the things you can't learn from a book. Experience is still the best teacher and will remain so. That doesn't make it any easier on those learning or those observing.
An old farmer, he really was a farmer, once told me, " the more you know,the less you think you know. " I've thought about that statement over the years and have to agree with him. As fast as you learn one thing you discover there are ten more questions. I'm at the point where I feel like an idiot ! I have a lot of questions unanswered. I have come to the conclusion that I satisfied the requirement of being young and stupid, I did that well. Now all I need to do is become old and wise. The old comes easily enough, just wait. Wisdom now is another matter altogether. Wisdom, I believe, is a gift. A gift from the Lord, kinda like a parting gift. The lord does have a sense of humor.
When we are children going to school we are conditioned to knowing the answers. That is why we take tests isn't it ? To test our knowledge. This habit of, knowing the answers, begins to prevade our thinking. If we are receiving passing grades we begin to think we know the answers. After a bit, especially after high school, we believe we know it all. Strange how that works. Then, for a few years anyway, we are convinced we have all the answers. That is until something goes wrong !. First thing we do is look to blame someone else. It cannot be our fault, we know the answers. And to make matters worse there are those around us that try to " help. " They tell us stuff like ,we should have known better. How could anyone had known ? What am I , a fortune teller ? No, I'm right and everyone else is wrong. That is the thought process when you are young. Old people just don't know or have forgotten.
I can laugh about it now because I do remember, and I am an older person. I admit it took me a while to begin to understand about answers. Hint : there is more than one correct answer. Situation and context must be taken into consideration. Also, get ready for this revelation, other peoples feelings and opinions. Yes, it's true, they may be right and I may be wrong. It is the acceptance of those variables that begins the real learning process. Yup, the things you can't learn from a book. Experience is still the best teacher and will remain so. That doesn't make it any easier on those learning or those observing.
An old farmer, he really was a farmer, once told me, " the more you know,the less you think you know. " I've thought about that statement over the years and have to agree with him. As fast as you learn one thing you discover there are ten more questions. I'm at the point where I feel like an idiot ! I have a lot of questions unanswered. I have come to the conclusion that I satisfied the requirement of being young and stupid, I did that well. Now all I need to do is become old and wise. The old comes easily enough, just wait. Wisdom now is another matter altogether. Wisdom, I believe, is a gift. A gift from the Lord, kinda like a parting gift. The lord does have a sense of humor.
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