ASSIMILATED and MISPERCEIVED
Sunday, January 31, 202 - daily column #6654
What I knew, when I knew it …
Now, it seems to matter less to flaunt what I know (ego-gratification needs of youth are waning). Doing so probably dates me – in that what concerns me vis-à-vis what discomforts most younger people ism for me, feeling more like an introspective divide than a generational one.
More importantly, as we get older, it is not as important to be clear on what we believe without question; instead, it is more important to examine things we accept without questioning what is false.
No double-talk here, but noticing that I take so many things for granted that aren’t as true as I once thought they were, and maybe they never were real. This goes beyond trusting people in charge of institutions in society – but simpler things, like misjudgments about people, their motives, behavior toward me/me toward them … how we get it wrong more than we get it right.
And apologies.
Getting those right.
Saying you’re sorry and really meaning it. I’m okay, polished in fact, expressing it and too clumsy and obvious when I don’t mean it. The solution, it seems, is easy – only apologize when you mean it. The result is fewer “saying we are sorry” or “oops” when we weren’t and more genuine contrition when we do say it …
“It ain’t so much men’s ignorance that does the harm as their knowing so many things that ain’t so.” – Artemus Ward (also attributed to Josh Billings, Will Rogers, and Mark Twain)
P.S.: if you want to check out some facts that aren’t factual, click here