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Monday, May 21, 2012

Always A Work In Progress

I don't know why, but lately I've been very reflective.  Frequently, I find myself attempting to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the human experience.  (I've been like this as long as I can remember, and I think it's been very beneficial.)  Maybe it's a mental Spring-Cleaning of sorts, or maybe it's just the fact that there's been so much going on lately, but whatever it is, I'm craving knowledge and enlightenment on a deeper level than I have in a while.

But no matter how long I live, I will never know everything there is to know, do everything there is to do, see everything there is to see, taste everything there is to taste, read everything there is to read, or meet everyone there is to meet, even if I were to (somehow) live to be 500 years old.  It may sound kind of sad and limited, but it's actually quite the opposite- there is always going to be something new for me to do, see, read, experience, etc.  We will never run out of things that we haven't experienced yet, no matter how much we fit in to each day or how many days we're alive on this earth.

That is why it is okay to not know something, and it took me a while to realize that.  I don't have to have the answer to every question, I don't have to know about everything (and no one ever will know everything in this life), and I don't have to have done everything.  It takes a lot of pressure off when you realize that you don't have to always be right and always know.  If we ever did get to the point where we had done, learned, completed, experienced, and saw absolutely everything, it would mean this earth is a lot more simple than we thought, and it is very much not.  Besides, if we were able to get to that point, I think we'd eventually just say "Well, I've done and seen and learned it all.  Nothing left for me to do with the rest of my life but sit here and twiddle my thumbs."  BORING!

Life is so incredible, and so endlessly beautiful and astounding.  Maybe I believe that to a naive degree, but it keeps me positive and happy and always open to new ideas, knowledge, and experiences.  I've have gone through tragedy, heartbreak, judgment, hardships, and  have seen things that I hope other people are never forced to see, and yet I always come out of it a little wiser and more appreciative of what I do have.  Those things, sorrowful as they can be, are a part of the richness and vastness of human existence.  At some point or another, we will all experience the positive and negative aspects of life.

Whether they're big or little, life experiences make us who we are.  We are a work in progress up until the last breath we take, and maybe even after that.  We all have infinite amounts of growth potential, no matter how smart, experienced, wise, kind, or compassionate we already are.  There is always room for improvement, and even though some people see it as a burden, the fact that we always have the capacity for growth is an incredible blessing.

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