I wanted to talk about the notion of understanding. WOW! I know, chill. I don’t want to get too philosophical on you, but hey, its my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want! Well that isn’t exactly true according to the post I will make shortly after this one but I digress.
What does it mean to understand something? A lot the time we think we understand something but we actually have no idea. For example I have a friend who for years has been using the word ‘ambiguous’ in the wrong context, like COMPLETELY wrong. How wrong I hear you ask? Well he would say things like ‘man this coffee is so ambiguous’ and on this occasion I pulled him up on it and he said ‘well it kinda makes sense because of you know, like multiple flavours’ to which I just responded ‘well that is very pretentious or just plain wrong’ and that was that. Silly example I know, and yes I need to get some better company.
Eistein said that ‘Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding’. Michael J Fox (Marty McFly from Back To The Future Trilogy) said that ‘Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it’. Understanding can be a frustrating thing for many. Whether its a concept in Maths class you simply cannot comprehend, or your telling of a funny story or joke that no one seems to get. Or perhaps even trying to convey what it is like to not be like everyone else or how it feels to lose a loved one.
The ability to understand and to listen is not something you inherit or you are born with, it is a gift, something you earn. Unfortunately not all of us have it, but some of us do. We all have someone in our lives that we know is what the doctors deem or classify as ‘sick’ which is something I don’t agree with. You desire for your health to be at another point and while one might argue that is is the very definition of sick, consider that no one is sick but that there is merely room for improvement if one wishes it.
I only feel the need to blog about this because I read a story which I have linked below that was saddening but at the same time eye opening and inspiring. I won’t dive into the specifics of it now, and I realise that maybe only 1 in 10 if that may read it but its important that we have an understanding of our society and those around us. A sense of perspective is key successful living.
Flash
http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/navigation/BYDLS-TheSpoonTheory.pdf