How many degrees do you have hanging on your wall? As we were growing up weren’t these diplomas supposed to provide us with all of the answers and an overabundance of happiness? Perhaps we read too much into the expectations. An education is a wonderful thing to have….and knowledge cannot be overestimated, but that all depends on the level of education and the amount of knowledge obtained. Math, English, the Sciences and the Arts, all meaningful endeavors, but without accumulating skills in life management, finances, parenting, forming relationships, and spiritual growth, one can easily look around and feel that something is missing.

Intelligence in our society today, in many cases, is based on the degree of education that a person has acquired. Surely, a person with a masters degree cannot be a bad father…or go financially bankrupt…but as many of us know, these things do happen, regardless. At a family get-together or party there always seems to be one or two members who seem to have all the answers….surely, there could not be something that they don’t know….until one day you get a phone call and that person that you highly regarded as being intellectually superior to you makes one of the stupidest mistakes that even a five year old could understand is wrong. If all we do is concentrate on certain aspects of life, while disregarding others….net/net a person ends up way below average.

When we make mistakes in life it’s so easy for us to start searching for the one to blame. ‘It’s God’s fault,” “My wife didn’t remind me,” “My children drive me crazy,”….Heaven forbid we turn the gigantic microscope around and point it at ourselves! Dysfunctional families (which most of us are members of in one way or another) are blamed for all of the mistakes we make in our lives. For sure, coming from a broken home is not easy and in some cases is a mountain to climb….but at some point changes have to be implemented to stop the same things from happening again and again, and new ways to handle our problems have to be practiced…..otherwise, we cannot overcome and move on.

How is this done? Seek out books, classes, seminars, Houses of Worship that can set you on the course of change. It’s no mystery, many of us have a sense what’s lacking in our day to day lives, but the hard part is facing it and changing it. This road of life that we all travel on is not a smooth journey and sometimes it can be absolutely rocky….but with the right knowledge perhaps we can diminish the amount of accidents that seem to happen in our lives when we least expect them, and obtain a greater control over our existence. We learn good habits and bad habits….plain and simple. We may not be able to change the past, but we do have a say in the future, and the past doesn’t have to equal the future. For myself, I do the best I can, but hey, I’m not perfect and often find myself asking God to help me overcome my shortcomings.

Anyone who tells you that they have all the answers….get away from them as fast as you can. The maze that we go through in life, at each turn is supposed to provide us with clues that we are meant to uncover to move forward to the next junction in the maze. Unfortunately, some get trapped, but it’s not impossible to clear the blockage and continue on the journey. Those blockages can be overcome if we realize that to move forward it is vital for us to take care of the whole essence of who we are and not just focus on a corner of ourselves.

I believe we come into this world with total knowledge…just look into the eyes of a newborn child. The “trick” is that as we progress in life, to not forget.

Try to remember,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1999 Jennifer Avalon