Figuring out that we DON’T have it figured out

Some of the most enduring things that I’ve had the privilege to hear have rolled from the lips of my family members.

The last words spoken to me by my Great Aunt that “If you’ve got a story you’d better tell it” is something that echoes within me on a daily basis.

My father would have soliloquies for every situation it seemed, but his mandate to “never make someone else’s reality your own” has served as a mantra of sorts throughout my life.

My mother who holds the distinction as the most unselfish person that I’ve ever met and her requiem “that you have to be smart enough for yourself and those folks who don’t know any better” is something that been a mental compass of sorts for me. And it is something I struggle with to this day.

With all of the talk that corporal punishment as it pertains to children has received recently, it is my contention that it is a method that has outlived its usefulness in many respects, especially with the technology that we have at our disposal. However, the purpose that it served during my formative years of cannot be discounted and many of my peers may be inclined to echo that.

But…

Why is it that those experiences are rendered invalid when it is juxtaposed against those who have a different vantage point?

Is it because we find it easier to talk over dissenting points of view rather that finding the commonalities that could possibly do the unthinkable; unite, rather than divide?

Listening works in theory, but in practice; not so much.

I think the important element that’s been lost is the foundation laid in our collective experiences. Those lessons need to be seen for what they are, if we are able to reflect with clarity on the wisdom that was procured from it, shouldn’t that merit a tip of the hat or the unfurling of the banner that screams in no uncertain terms “Mission Completed” or is that too much to digest?

The greatest error is often made in concert with the cyclical nature of history, it is this arrogance that we have it all figured out… When Lord knows, nothing could be further from the truth.

Humanity, we truly need to get over ourselves.