Truths about daily life

“Knowledge is power” is a saying that everyone has heard at least once in their lives. In these three powerful words there has never been so much truth. We start learning right from wrong as soon as you can walk. For many kids, their first word is “no”. Why is this? Maybe it’s because it’s something that they hear so often. No! Don’t climb on that. No! Don’t eat that. No! Don’t put your finger in there. From that point on we learn. We learn that doing right isn’t always fun. We learn how to drive our parents crazy while getting joy from it. Just telling them “no” over and over seems to get the trick done. Then we learn another word that makes our parents even more crazy. The word “why”. There’s something about being stuck in a car with a toddler who’s only word is “why”. Then the conversation goes something like this:

You: We’re going to see grandma today.

Tot: Why?

You: Because she needs our help doing some things around the house.

Tot: Why?

You: Because she’s getting older.

Tot: Why?

You: Because everyone gets older.

Tot: Why?

You: They just do. Time passes and we all age.

Tot: Why?….

At this point you want to throw your own kid out of a moving car. Of course,  you would NEVER actually do that, but you have thought about it (more than once even). Eventhough it drives parents crazy, this is how our kids are learning. They learn why things happen, that somethings are bad, why we need to help others, how to be a good person and patience. Not that they have any at this point, but they see you being patient with them and they learn from your actions, not your words. Children are like little sponges, picking up knowledge from everywhere. Good and bad kinds of knowledge.  Like learning swear words for example.  One day your little angel drops something and when they think no one is around they say “oh shit”. You do a double take and quickly ask… “what did you just say?”. “Nothing.” They say. Thats not what I heard, it sounded like you just said the ‘s’ word… By now your kid knows these kind of words are bad and that they should never get caught using these kinds of words, but every now and then they do. All of a sudden years pass by and we spend hours and hours learning algebra, history, and proper nouns. It seems that our brains get overloaded with all this knowledge that we are told will help us get to the next step in life. We sometimes forget that real knowledge isn’t just what we learn from books, school, or work, but that it is the knowledge of life that’s truely important. I’ve always been found of my grandma growing up because she seemed to be a fountain of knowledge.  Knowledge on how to respect others, how to follow your dreams, how to forgive, and that family is some place you can always return to. These are all great basics of knowledge of life, but what about knowing what to do in the tough spots of life? What do you do when the person who holds your heart breaks it in two? Do you speak up and let them know or keep quiet so you too don’t break their heart? What do you do when you have so much pressure on you to succeed and you end up pregnant? Do you keep this merical of life or do you walk away to protect your family’s feelings and hopes for you? Life will always be difficult, but the level of difficulty is up to you. You can always learn by watching others and learning from their actions first, like we did as children. Just growing up and what we’ve experienced over the years gives us knowledge. Answers to all our questions of why, either within yourself or from others give us knowledge. Knowing how others truely feel and not just assuming you know how they feel. Thinking is just guessing, but certainly not knowledge.  Get facts and look at all outcomes before making a serious decision in life, as to not regret it later. Yes, knowledge is power! It is the power that drives us. The power that fuels our world. True knowledge comes from life as well as books, and will forever be changing as we change and grow.

 

You could be completely happy in the life you’re living until you see something else that looks “better” than what you have currently. Many times this is referred to the shiny thing or greener grass. One neighbor is happy until the day the other neighbor brings home a new boat. Now your thinking, do they really make that much more then me? Or how amazing it would be to go out on the lake every weekend with your family and friends. So you go out and get a boat too. However, it’s a bigger shinier boat than your neighbors, so that now they too can be a little jealous of you. Months pass and your new boat hasn’t  left the driveway.  It is now you realize you’re wasting money on something you don’t use because you don’t even like the lake and hating your neighbor because you feel it’s their fault you bought the boat in the first place. Eventhough it wasn’t their fault at all, you just thought the grass would be greener. This can apply to objects as well as relationships. Especially with things like Facebook and dating apps. You see all these photos of perfect couples or attractive people and start to question if what you have is enough. Or is there something out there that is better? Like, a relationship that can fulfill your heart and soul like you didnt even know was possible. Yesterday your life seemed great but today, not so. How do you know when you’re  truely unhappy or is it just a shiny thing? The only way to know is to ask yourself “what do you want?” This is a hard question to answer truthfully. Especially when you’re thinking about how it will affect others. The only way you can truthfully answer this question is to take the time to think about what makes YOU happy, and no one else. Don’t think about what the Jones’ will think, or if it will hurt someone else or even if it seems impossible. Once you find out the answer to this question you can make better decisions about how to guide your life and purchases. You will know if this is something that will make your life better or is just a shiny thing. However, the reality is that once you answer this truthfully there is a good chance someone in your life will be hurt. The hardest question is yet to come. Do you make changes necessary to be happy or do you stay put to save the happiness of others you care about? Will this change even lead you to the greener grass when it’s all said and done? Honestly, there is no real way to know for sure. Just follow your heart and the rest will come