"The most important things in life aren't things." (Anthony J. D'Angelo) That to me made perfect sense and brought me the question: which are the non-things which are the most important in life?
I debated with myself for quite some time if knowledge is part of the most important things in life. And I have concluded that knowledge is very important to lead you to the most important things in life but in itself it doesn't really matter. Knowledge is a mean, it's not the destination.
My next debate was on feelings. Likewise for knowledge, I've concluded that feelings are also a mean and not the destination. This is much more sensitive for the simple argument that we are emotional creatures. But aren't our feelings the expression of how we approach life? I can feel very sad or happy today about a person or a situation and when discussing the matter with someone else the day after, change my feelings by 180 degrees. Did it ever happen to you? Have you ever felt good about a person and then you came across different facts and stories about the person and all of a sudden you've got the cold shoulder for that person?
There's a vicious circle in here, no? I want to be right and not for the sake of righteousness but rather for the good feelings that righteousness will bring me. So, in other words, I want my knowledge to serve my feelings. Hence, once I have knowledge I can alter my feelings. On one condition: if I have the right attitude. And to me attitude is part of the most important things in life.
The best description of the importance of attitude to me is this: "It's your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude." (Zig Ziglar) Attitude is our jumping trampoline in life. And altitude is relevant not for the sake of heights, but for the realization of one's potential.
And that leaves me with a short list of the most important things in life: attitude and the realization of one's potential. To which I would add as corollaries filling life with meaning that comes through wisdom. I think wisdom is the highest level of attitude, while meaning is the highest level of altitude.
And in between we have this wonderful span of time called life to enjoy and embrace and share and cherish. Go on, make the best of it!
TIME is one of the non-things in life that are so important, wouldn't you agree?! :-)
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Posted by: Account Deleted | Aug 02, 2011 at 12:57 PM