Have you ever considered the idea that uncertainty and mystery are the energy that fuels your life? They can be your muses and propel you to follow your creative impulse. Not knowing what is going to happen sparks the question “what if.” That draws out your unique talents. You don’t know what the right answer is, so you are free to wonder about the possibilities.
List the ten best movies you have ever seen. Then take a look at your list and put those movies in categories. Are they love stories, mysteries, scary movies, adventure films, or something else? How do you think the movies you enjoy reflect your real life? Are they parallel to your life, or are they completely opposite? Do you like heart pounding thrillers, but in real life you rarely leave the house after dark?
Is the movie of your life a boring remake of an old, predictable theme? Or is your movie filled with excitement and surprises at every turn?
DAY
186
“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.”
— John Naisbitt
Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years, you know that we are lucky enough to exist in a time when technology makes massive amounts of information easily accessible. You can Google just about anything and instantly receive hundreds of reports, articles, blogs, websites, and the like describing the topic of interest. In many ways, that is a huge advantage. You have access to information now that would have been difficult to find a few short years ago. The opportunity for you to collect hoards of information without ever leaving your home is infinite.
That is an incredibly exciting prospect, because it levels the playing field. You have an equal opportunity today. You can access much of the same information that other people use to obtain success. If you are willing to do the work, you can gather up all sorts of facts and figures that will help you achieve your dreams.
On the other hand, information means nothing if it is not verified or applicable to your life. What you are ultimately striving for is knowledge. What’s the difference? Journal for a few minutes today about what you believe the difference is between information and knowledge.
Here are a few more questions to consider while you are writing in your journaclass="underline" When you look something up on the Internet, how do you know it’s true? What information do you look for, and how do you use it? Are you drowning in information but starved for knowledge today?
DAY
187
“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
— Benjamin Spock
Another interesting side effect of this “information age” is that many people stop trusting their instincts. They want to check their ideas with an expert before making any sudden moves.
Brenda was tired of her children spending too much time on the computer. When she was a kid, she was always outside playing with the other children in the neighborhood. She fondly remembers the forts they made and the elaborate games they cooked up in each other’s backyards. Their parents had to yell at them to come inside when it was dinnertime, because they were having such a great time together.
Brenda wanted to encourage her own children to get out of the house and into some physical activity, too. She herded them out of their rooms where they were isolated on their laptops, chatting with friends online and playing video games.
“Why don’t you go outside and play for awhile?” Brenda suggested. “It’s a beautiful day.”
The kids agreed, but all three of them momentarily ducked back into their rooms to prepare. When she followed them, she found out they were looking up ideas online for games to play outside.
This might sound like a ridiculous story to you, but it happens all the time. How often do you check online to see if your instincts fit in with what the general population is doing? Are there ways you can trust yourself more?
DAY
188
“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”
— Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from 1997 to 2006, and he won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2001 jointly with the United Nations. He speaks English, French, and several African languages fluently. Kofi Annan has used his education as a powerful tool to become a global leader and work diligently on important issues from human rights to the world economy. One of his strengths is his knowledge. He has the ability to look at problems individually and also globally and highlight the point that personal issues affect the entire world.
The biography of Kofi Annan is a powerful testament to the fact that knowledge is power, whether you agree with his policies and decisions or not. Information is liberating, and education is the premise of progress.
You have no excuse to remain in the dark today. You have access to the tools that will bring you knowledge and aid your progress in this world. How are you building your knowledge right now? What are you doing to liberate yourself from the bonds of ignorance? No one is going to take those steps for you. You cannot blame your lack of education for your failure. You can obtain knowledge in so many ways today, and you do not have to pay a heavy tuition to get it.
What are you doing to obtain the knowledge you need to achieve success in your life?
DAY
189
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
— Gertrude Stein
Paul had a flat tire one morning. He went online immediately to find the tire shops closest to his house. None of them were open yet, so he called in to work and told his boss he would be a bit late. In the meantime, Paul spent an hour on the Internet. By the time the shop opened at eight o’clock in the morning, Paul had checked out the bus and train routes online, used MapQuest to find out how many miles it was to his office, and used another site calculate the time it would take to ride a bike there, joined an online carpooling network, and submitted a down payment for an electric-assist bicycle.
Paul could have done some work from home, but instead he got sucked into the black hole of information that is available to him through any number of technological devices. He started looking for answers, and his common sense went right out the window.
Has this ever happened to you on some level? You are on the receiving end of a lot of information every day through TV, radio, and the Internet, not to mention other human beings who have also picked up tidbits they would like to share. What do you do to stop the noise and maintain your common sense?
Information isn’t everything. It is also important to have face-to-face communication, relationships, wonder, and peace and quiet, among other things. What can you practice in your everyday life to make sure that you don’t lose your common sense when you go searching for information?