I was walking the track last night, talking to (mostly listening to) another guy in here for almost two hours. He was going on and on about the decisions he has made in life, all the mistakes, he should have done this… would have done that if only “X” would have happened. He is making himself absolutely miserable, obsessing about all of his perceived past mistakes. He finally took a breathe from the lashings he was giving himself and said something that caught my attention and made me think… he said, “ughhhh. Life was so easy when I was just high, young and stupid. I didn’t have to think about any of this sh*t.” I looked at him and replied, “Yeah… Ignorance is bliss I guess”. But after the yard closed and I was left alone to my thoughts… I started thinking… is it?
People often say (as I did to him), “Ignorance is bliss”, but maybe… it is right up until it’s not. It seems in life we constantly punish ourselves for not knowing. We always complain about what we could and should have done in a given situation, and how much of a mistake it was that we did that thing, that unforgivable thing (I know your thinking of one right now). We beat ourselves up for being so stupid, regretting our choices and lamenting the horrible decisions that we make.
Now, outside of something that is really a mistake (or series of mistakes) that get you in positions like the one I currently find myself in. Those types of mistakes are wrong… no if’s, and’s or but’s about that. But, outside of breaking the law, here’s the reality… these “mistakes” and decisions that we beat ourselves up over… these are what life is actually about. Living is the journey from not knowing to knowing. From not understanding to understanding. From confusion to clarity. By societal or universal design… we are born into an extremely perplexing situation, bewildered, and we all have one job on this planet as humans… figure that sh*t out.
Life is about learning. Overcoming “ignorance” is the whole point of the journey. We aren’t supposed to have all the answers at the beginning. The whole point of venturing into uncertainty is to bring light to the darkness of this “ignorance”. Life is like school in a way with one key difference… in school, we get the lesson and then we take the test. But in life, we get the test and it’s our job to take the lesson.
We are all seemingly waiting around until we have deep knowledge, wisdom and a sense of certainty before we venture into a new challenge or endeavor. But we have it backward… venturing forth is how we acquire this knowledge.
Although some decisions we have made due to our “ignorance” has undoubtedly led to a degree of personal pain and suffering… when we look back, I think we will see clearly that it could have been no other way. We only are taught and genuinely learn through experience. So, even when you feel like you haven’t the slightest clue how you are going to accomplish the challenge sitting in front of you, take a deep breathe and move forward. You’ll look back one day wiser for it.
Knowledge is power. Go get that knowledge!