Today's
Quotation:
It can be tempting to blame others for
our loss of direction.
We get lots of information about life but little
education in life from parents, teachers, and other
authority figures, who should know better from their
experience. Information
is about facts. Education
is about wisdom and the knowledge of how to love and
survive. But no
matter how much advice you get, you are the one who chooses
which train to board. As
you pass through life, pay attention to the signs and
stations; if you don't like the scenery, pull the emergency
cord and get off the train.
There is no other conductor in charge.
There is no one who needs to give you permission to
transfer. This is your life. Your
journey. Your
trip to conduct.
Bernie Siegel
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Today's
Meditation:
Bernie's
distinction between information and education is one of the
most important things that we can learn in our lives, I
believe. Our world of today constantly throws us
information in wave after wave of stuff that we really don't
need to know at all, and we're taught that this information
is somehow critically important to us. It's not.
Information can't help us in most of our life situations
that are truly important, like spending time with a loved
one after a death or helping someone to cope with a loss or
a difficulty. Those are times when compassion and
understanding are the most important things we can show.
We
don't have to continue to fill our brains with
information. Facts and figures and numbers may help us
in a conversation or two, but years from now-- or even weeks
from now-- most of the facts that we learn today will be
completely useless. What will last is what we learn
about loving and surviving and becoming the people we were
meant to be. What will last are the things that we can
pass on to others in the hope that they can live happy,
healthy lives.
Is
your train going in the direction you want it to? Are
you learning what you want to learn on your voyage? If
the answer is "no," then there's a good chance
that you got on the wrong train in the last station, or even
a few stations ago. But as Bernie says, this is your
trip, and there are many more trains going in many different
directions that you can board whenever you wish.
The
trains that teach you how to love yourself and others, the
trains that expose you to true wisdom so that you may learn
about life and living-- those are the trips that are truly
worth our time, and the ones that will teach us lessons that
will last.
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