The importance of knowing that I don’t know everything
Mon, December 6, 2021 I read somewhere that people do not grow old, they become old when they stop growing. I think back to when I turned fifty, I hated it. I hated the way I looked, I hated my life, and really, I hated myself. I was older then than I am now.
Here I am, 35 years later, and my attitude has done a complete 180. Instead of hating my life and having to make a living, I am retired and so I do not have to “Make” anything. I simply live life, enjoy life, and in the process because my needs are less, my needs are met, I manage to comfortably get by.
I am so busy all the time, I wonder how I ever found the time to make a living anyway. I have a purpose in life, and that is essential. A reason to live, to exist, a reason to get out of bed every morning.
I work hard at keeping myself healthy, I cannot afford to get sick. I eat a simple plant-based diet, and that alone saves me money, Meat is expensive, and with the money I save by not buying it, I can afford to buy the best in organic fruits and vegetables.
My family, friends and loved ones, are my reason to live. I have grandchildren, and even great grandchildren I have yet to meet. I would like to do that one day. I have many good friends I look forward to seeing again. I measure my wealth not by money in the bank, but by those who will miss me when I am gone.
I also see this as a reason to get through this damnable pandemic, and we will. This pandemic may seem like a long haul, but as a child I remember WWII, and that lasted five years. It didn’t affect me; I was a child and at time I knew nothing else other than there was a war going on. But it passed as all things do, and possibly when this is over, we might learn something from it.
Every day I exercise my body, without my body, where will I live? I also exercise my mind, writing this is making me think, mind calisthenics if you will. That alone makes the effort worthwhile, and if I can bring a little joy into someone else’s life, entertain, inspire thought, that is an added bonus. Helping myself, while communicating with others, isn’t that what those who created this almighty mess that is the Internet and social media, intended?
It saddens me to see our country so divided, and it does not have to be that way. I have friends on both sides of the political spectrum, I love them all equally, for the way they treat me, and the way they make me feel when we are together. If they choose to post their political views on social media, it doesn’t mean I should rush to un-friend them. They are still the same person I love as a friend no matter what their views.
However, people who try to force their views on me, change me, or read into my views some political agenda, I can do without that, and I will try to distance myself from that person. There is an unwritten, unspoken agreement, I will respect your views if it does not affect me in a negative way.
I get the feeling that some people need an affiliation to this or that political/religious/conspiracy belief group in order to feel they belong to something. Maybe it satisfies some primal tribal need, and there is not necessarily harm in it unless they become victims of their own fantasies.
I remind myself every day that in spite of the vast amount of knowledge I have gathered during my life, there is still far more that I do not know or could ever know. Therefore, I try to keep an open mind, leave room for a new way of thinking.
If I think that I know all there is to know, how can I continue to grow?
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Reader Comments (1)
Thanks Dave, I just turned 50 and your post hit home. I so appreciate your outlook and positivity. I have many things to be thankful for and was reminded of that after reading your post. You've truly left a positive imprint on this planet. I admire the body of work you've created, most obviously the the fine examples of hand-crafted bicycles cherished by proud caretakers like myself. By comparison, I worry I won't have left behind any physical artifacts that bear my name. Maybe now that I'm 50, it's not too late to try my hand at frame building?