The Transfer of Knowledge
I would have given up on writing if it weren’t for a few people who have enjoyed what I had to express.
This is not Transfer of Knowledge, as much as it is the Expression of the Heart. This time around I have not gained Knowledge as much as I gained experience going through some life’s challenges. Solitude and Love are some of the most humbling feelings that I have felt, and I can imagine these are the very feelings that shape a man’s life.
These feelings can be the source of deception or discouragement.
It’s true that we are the creators of our destiny, and the ones responsible for all that we have and we don’t have. We are responsible for our mistakes. However, we are also responsible for overcoming such mistakes with character. I may venture into believing that in the process of overcoming mistakes with character, many men/women become champions, and many others don’t because they become discouraged.
Discouragement could be the worst thing that may happen to a champion. As a champion will never become a champion if he/she is discouraged and interrupts his/her path to success. Discouragement may very well be the difference between someone achieving his or her life’s mission or not.
I read: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
When I first read this I had to make sure I read it more than a few times. I thought it was one of those mind-bending ideas out there. But the reason why it took me a little while to understand it is because we are taught to believe that we must be reasonable. That we must conform to the environment, and that if we are unreasonable in our society, well, then we are just a failure.
Unreasonable people, in my mind, are those people who surpass the norm of understanding. They are those people who do not become discouraged by social norms, or others influence. They believe deep in their heart that they should overcome to succeed. And in doing so they might be on their way to achieving their mission in life.
I think that the first thing I would have done when I felt this way, was to run to my mothers arms and cry a river on her lap. Oh I remember how I would complain to her that life was so unfair. She would tenderly call my attention, and would only let me cry once about a situation. When she saw me crying twice about the same situation I was not on her lap for comfort but for a slap. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to cry to her, and know that no matter what there would be someone who loved me, and be there no matter what.
Solitude came about when I had nowhere to go. So the natural reaction to my situation was to become discouraged. My feelings deceived me to a point where, my image in the mirror was not that of an overcoming-champion, but that of a worthless human being who cannot overcome.
I did not work, took a holiday that lasted a long time. In fact, I still think I am in that holiday. I was not able to keep disciplined with my own life agenda. The past, my mistakes, my feelings occupied priority number one of my agenda. My own understanding of the situation deceived me. I was being reasonable; I was comparing myself to the norm, or to my understanding of good. I had dropped from that standard. Or so I believed. I was feeling guilty, worthless, and anxious that I would not be able to overcome.
In fact, the very reason why I own a consulting firm in Canada is because I was unreasonable. I quit every job I was given, I starved, and found myself homeless sleeping on friend’s couches, or in my car, when I had no friends. I was unreasonable. I knew what I wanted. And it was just a matter of time until I achieved what I wanted.
So why was I discouraged?
That is another whole story in itself.
What I want to share is that no matter the reason why we are discouraged, that we can never be discouraged, we cannot solely rely on our negative feelings, or negative thoughts. We must rely on what is in our hearts. As long as you do what is in your heart, you will never regret the outcome.
I have used this insight all my life, as it was taught to me since I was little.
This serves as a reminder to myself to continue to believe only in my character and what is written in my heart.
The rest? Well, reasonable people will only care about the rest.
