Wisdom; Time Will Tell
A small word that embodies so much meaning, wisdom is defined as the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight. Very few people innately have this little quality and for most of us it takes years to possess some of it… wisdom. History is one way we can acquire some wisdom at someone else’s expense. That is, by watching what other folks did well, or conversely, badly, we can gather some vicarious wisdom to propel us further in our own lives and careers. To that extent, many of us would stand to learn something if we look to our past and recognize that someone has been where you’re going and probably is the very reason your are even allowed to go there. It can be said that African Americans would have come along just fine without Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X. It can be said that Rita Moreno is completely irrelevant to why Jennifer Lopez is an A-lister today. It can be said that Jamie Fox didn’t have one good reason to pay Sidney Poitier homage when he received his Academy Award, since Poitier was from another era and didn’t contribute one iota to the stellar performance Fox delivered in Ray. It can be said that Halle Berry’s histrionics at the Academy Awards during her win – and her tearful thank-you to those who came before her - were unnecessary, since she probably would’ve gotten there on her own acting chops and good looks. It can be said that Jennifer Holliday did nothing to impact the character of Effie in Dreamgirls and therefore, should ride into the sunset without a forwarding address, rather than expect any genuine kudos from anyone associated with the Dreamgirls film. You know, these things can all be said… but WISDOM would show all these statements to be a sign of ignorance, immaturity or the disrespectful notion that in our magnificence we would’ve attained all of our accomplishments without those that came before us. I wonder where we lost our sense of history; our sense of respect; our sense of paying homage to those that in some small way may have played a great part in who we are today. So whether it’s an iconic world leader fighting for equality and unity or your grandmother’s back-breaking manual labor done with a smile, recognize that those before us paid a hefty price to have us sit on our ass-numbing perches making assertions about how our successes are due to our own brilliance. Wisdom – theirs and hopefully our own, will serve to make us much more gracious winners, competitors and keepers of our history.
On Blast
Who do you believe played an enormous role in impacting where you are today?
** Note: The person(s) do not necessarily have to be family, friends or celebrities.
Keep passin’ the open windows…
1 comment:
Both my mother and father. They both taught "life lessons" in addition to being parents.
My favorite life lesson was that "if people spent half of the day minding their own businees and the other half leaving other people's alone, the world would be a better place."
My favorite life lesson from my father was to "watch what other people do and take a lesson from them. Don't make the mistakes yourself."
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