Saturday, March 25, 2006

"I realized I did not know better." As I listened, it hit me, how many problems do we have that come from thinking that we know better? Better than our parents, our teachers, our God? As I watch my own children, especially my six year old, and listen to other people talk about how they really thought they knew better and now realize that they did not, I look at myself.

How many times have I thought I knew better, when in the end, I realized that the way I was following was not the better way?



It is really amazing just how many problems people get in because of one of two reasons:
  1. The did not know better.
  2. They thought they knew better (that what they had been told or experienced in the past).
Seeing all the things people have done wrong and have messed up because of one of those two reasons has really made me stop and think about what are the things I do not know and when are the times I think I know "better" and really don't.

We all remember times from when we were kids. We thought we really didn't need to study for a test, or really did not need to get to sleep or that we really could make it across that stream without falling in or really did not need a coat or ...

But there are times for adults too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A new post!!!! :) Life can be very humbling indeed.

I hope that you found compassion when you went against the advice rather than........

"I told you so!" :(

Stephen said...

I've been lucky ... I've just been looking at what has happened to others and when someone said "I realized I did not know better," this morning, it really hit me that the attitude of thinking that we know better is really a problem we all face.

So many people destroy their lives or disrupt themselves, thinking they know better.

Anonymous said...

How's that saying go...old enough to know better but too young to care?

I know some of my troubles with thinking I knew better involved a hope that I could change someone else, like your reason #2. Adults aren't immune, though we sometimes imagine we are by virtue of age.

I've heard it said that when we know better, we do better. Admitting our lack of knowledge and accepting the responsibility for our actions based thereon takes guts and humility.

annegb said...

I love that saying, "when I knew better, I did better." Because I've always tried to do the right thing.

Marian D. Hanks quotes a woman saying, "I've made many mistakes for which I will surely have to pay, but many were made in anguish as I was trying to do the right thing."

In Al-Anon, we say "progress, not perfection" a lot.