It’s amazing to me when I look back over my life and realized at the different junction points of my development how I placed a great value on the various items that later on became worthless to me as I matured beyond the small mindedness of that level.
As a child you wanted that piece of after dinner candy so bad that you made sure to continually pester your parents for it so that they wouldn’t forget to bless you with that sweet reward of a treat. But ironically as you’ve gotten older, while that same candy hasn’t lost it’s sensory punch to your palette, your desire for it has as you understand how painful and costly an indulgence it truly has been when visiting the dentist’s office with those numerous well earned toothaches.
Remember that first vehicle that you ever had? No, not the old car that you learned to drive on that may have been a hand me down from a family member or purchased used and barely had life in it, I am speaking of that first NICE car that you had that you washed everyday, pampered like a baby and almost worshiped through the love and attention that you afforded it. It was a special time in your young life where you finally enjoyed the much desired ability to move about and the private space away from prying eyes to indulge in the things that younger folks do.
Now? A car is no big deal, for it is only a means to get you safely and efficiently from point “A” to point “B”, case closed. And while you will still maintain it (hopefully) by keeping it clean and nice, it is no longer the ritual of adolescent pride that it once was for you in the not too distant past.
Our maturity definitely has an effect on the things that we value in our lives.
The normal trajectory has us ascending to a higher level of thought making better choices for ourselves beyond the animalistic hormone driven desires that may have ruled our youth and the foolish mistakes that we have made in the conquest of satisfying them.
The bottom line is that as we grow older and wiser we should not think the same way we did ten or twenty years ago! If we do then something has gone haywire in our development and we need to make some serious corrections in our thought processes in order to live a full and productive life.
When your perceptions of the world around you are limited because of a lack of acrued knowledge then there is know way that one can absorb the total scope of what life has to offer.
Imagine a deaf man attending an opera and expecting to get something out of the performance.
Imagine a blind woman going to an art exhibit and anticipating a life enhancing experience from the articles of expressions on display.
So to be handicapped in your programed knowledge stores, you are only receiving only a small percentage of the projected joy that you could absorb out of life.
This is fact. Undeniable fact.
Like a clogged filter that is rendered useless and can’t even do the job it’s in position to do…….
So what is your excuse for being content in a state of ignorance when YOUR GOD told you to seek knowledge?
Their IS no excuse. Ignorance and stupidity is not cool and it’s damn sure not a turn on.
It’s also amusing how those who are lacking in the education department also never really see themselves deficient most of the time. And when I say lacking in education, I don’t necessarily mean that I am referring to those who do not have a college degree, I am speaking of those who do not have a constant thirst for learning and a never ending hungry for knowledge.
We see ourselves in so many different ways as human beings but overlook some of the most important aspects from within that should be catered to and improve upon.
This not only goes for us as an individual, but it goes for us as a collective also. We as human beings can sometimes view ourselves in many different lights. When we as men want to spend time over by a friends yard to talk, laugh, play dominoes and unwind, we will tell our girlfriends or spouses that “I am going to hang out with the boys tonight!” and it is perfectly okay to do so but the reality is that you see yourselves as a collective of men.
Same for the ladies. “It’s a night out for the girls! We are going to the mall tonight to do some shopping and maybe go to a restaurant!”
This is fine to do also, they at the time happen to see themselves as a group of happy friendly women.
We can see ourselves in many different ways but no matter WHO we are, there is a common thread that we all must respect in our quest to improve the quality of our lives and leave the next generation in a better position than the previous and that is by having a quality education.
If truth be told, everyone is a little stupid in something and can always learned something whether it is in or out of their designated area of expertise.
As much as we hear this spoken and as much as we know this to be an undeniable truth it seems as though many in our midst refuse to understand its importance and value.
And here we are again mentioning that word value…….
Some of us seem to value the frivolous man made gadgetry of the season more so than possessing great knowledge. We value our cellular phones with the bells and whistles that they possess more so than a state of accomplishment that can NEVER go out of style like that very same phone!
Well what happened to turn us away from valuing an education and what
must be done to restore our collective respect for higher learning?
It used to be a time growing up when we saw an expensive luxury car parked in our neighborhood we just KNEW that it had to be a quality accomplished person of high standing that owned that vehicle. It had to be a doctor, lawyer, businessperson or someone who mastered their particular area of expertise. So even when as a little boy or little girl playing ball down the block, when you saw this person leaving from their visit in that particular house with the car keys in their hand you greeted them with the utmost respect NOT because they owned that Jaguar sedan or Mercedes Benz convertible, but because THAT vehicle 99% of the time was proportionate to the level of accomplishment that this person attained. But looking back on how we viewed “status” and then comparing how our perceptions have changed so drastically one can say the difference is now like night and day!
See a luxury car parked across the street in your neighborhood now?
HA!
The first thing most will say is that SOMEBODY around here is selling drugs! Even me, and I am going to put myself out there as an example for a minute, I work a regular job just like my coworkers but many have accused me of dipping and dabbling in something that is not too wholesome because they cannot figure out not only how I am making it but how do I live as well as I do while earning the same amount of money that THEY make!
Let me tell you, it’s not about how much you make but what you DON’T have to spend. I am not caught up in believing that a new car brings an elevation in personal “status” or embarking on frequent weekend shopping sprees makes me a candidate for being on the next episode of a reality television show that will showcase me to the world as a jet setter!
Heck!
That haphazard behavior will land me in the line at the soup kitchen and bankruptcy court! LOL!
We have doctors, lawyers and others who can well afford the finest luxury vehicles who now refuse to do so because of the stigma that goes with the ownership of possessing a finer car than most. I think it’s a shame that we as a society would let such ignorance permeate our thinking but we have to pay the price overall for those who ARE ignorant and have not taken the time to educate themselves!
It’s almost like the total cost of auto insurance going up because the haphazard driving habits of those irresponsible drivers drive the premiums up and now the good drivers with clean records have to pay!
Being ignorant and uneducated is a drain on the society overall. Most who call prison home are not from the most educated tier of our society even though we have many who are locked who are college educated, but it’s obvious they didn’t possess a proportionate amount of common sense to go along with their smarts.
Why is ignorance running amok across our communities when in this day and age we have more means available to absorb as much education than in any other time in recorded history?
Especially if you have an Internet connection and a desire to learn. Heck, these days you don’t even have to step foot IN a classroom to be able to earn a college degree! You could attain this on your own schedule in the comfort of your own home!
It doesn’t get any easier than that!
This makes me think back to when I would hear my elders say that this younger generation has it absolutely TOO EASY! They didn’t have to lug many pounds of books for miles through inclement weather after waking up early to do hard chores before the sun came up. This is after getting to bed very late because they would have to complete school assignments AND study for that stringent exam.
Those days created a better quality of people and the results from the struggle to achieve is something that money can’t buy.
The bottom line is that only time will tell if our society makes an overall decision to go back to the tried and proven methods of developing the long standing successes that are built not on quick gimmicks, scams, hustles and rip-offs, but righteous principles that strengthen character, community and bring us all closer to the happy existence that our all loving Creator intended for us enjoy.
