Sunday, May 18, 2008

Graduation Edition

I hear a lot nowadays about education being "the key" to... insert whatever goal here.

This is not true. Doubly so in America.

The key to a great life is...enjoying life. Enjoying life includes a lot of learning. Learning is fun. Going to school is miserable. This should teach you something.

Many of the smartest, happiest people I know have the least amount of formal education.

Many of them are not rich...scratch that...most of them are not rich.

Many of them have children.

The other thing I've learned is that nice people often look "different". Mostly because they dress the way they want to. They behave in ways that are nonjudgemental and fun. They go barefoot alot. They have tattoos and piercings. They have long hair or no hair. They wouldn't be pictured in any fashion magazine.

So, dear graduates, go into the world happy. Do what you want. You can't make everyone happy, so don't try. Make yourself happy and most people will love you for being you. Make yourself happy and you will have no need of money, fame, status or degrees. People will like you because you are authentic. No matter what that is.

Never change your loves, sexuality, joy, sorrows, outlook on life for anyone. You can only regret it later. Simply live and then life will be its own reward.

So Jesus said "Take all your possessions and give them to the poor." and the man went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Here endeth the lesson.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What you're really talking about in this post is the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

I can't really say I disagree with anything you say here. I just have one clarification (caveat is too strong a word): I'd advise young people to take care of other people in need. Hopefully then, there will be people to take care of them when they are sick or old. They can still enjoy life all they want (you'd think that helping people and enjoying life would go hand in hand, but I sometimes wonder today).

No, education by itself doesn't solve any problems. People do. And knowledgeable people solve problems more effectively than unknowledgeable people. One way to gain knowledge is formal education.

Wise people know which problems are the best problems to spend their efforts on, and which ones aren't.