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Today's
Meditation:
I've
known plenty of educators--especially on the college
level, where I teach--who have almost no common sense at
all. In their lives, the information involved in
their chosen subject matter is what they spend almost all
of their time studying, learning, memorizing. They
get so wrapped up in knowing information about their own
pursuits that they deprive themselves of the opportunities
to learn more "common" sense, the type of sense
that allows us to live our lives in a balanced, practical,
compassionate way.
All
the education in the world is useless if you're not able
to see the needs of the people around you. All the
analytical skills that you can develop do no good to
anyone if you're not able to connect with another human
being on a human level, focusing on that person's wants
and needs rather than on analyzing their problems and
coming up with causes rooted in their childhood.
I've
known plenty of people with almost no formal education at
all who are able to make a child smile with little or no
effort, and who are able to solve important problems very
quickly and simply just by using their common sense.
To
me, the question is simple: do I want to spend my
time and effort adding value to a field based on
information, or do I want to spend that time and effort
adding value directly to the lives of others, making them
feel wanted, needed, and appreciated (because they are
wanted, needed, and appreciated)? While my formal
education can help me in some ways, my common sense is
going to give me more ability to contribute to the lives
of others on a daily basis.
We
value information, but on the day I die I want to have
touched lives, not memorized and synthesized
information. My common sense can be developed by
watching others who have it and use it, and emulating
their actions; by listening to what they say and learning
from it. The information I know is important, but
far more important are the spirits I can touch with my
common sense, caring, and compassion.
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