Ignorance is Bliss – Knowledge is Power

Ignorance | noun | ig·no·rance | \ˈig-n(ə-)rən(t)s\   : a lack of knowledge, understanding, or education : the state of being ignorant

Bliss | noun | \ˈblis\  : complete happiness

Knowledge | noun | knowl·edge | \ˈnä-lij\  : information, understanding, or skill that you get from experience or education. awareness of something : the state of being aware of something

Power | noun | pow·er often attributive | \ˈpau̇(-ə)r\   : ability to act or produce an effect (2) :  ability to get extra-base hits (3) :  capacity for being acted upon or undergoing an effect .

{Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary online}

Many people have used the phrase Knowledge is Power to encourage their close ones or a group of people they are speaking to get an education. In this instance, I mean education as in the broader process of acquiring knowledge. And as someone who can claim to be educated, I do admit that there is a certain power with knowing. Just by looking at the definition of the word power, there is an underlying implication of knowing. Knowledge is definitely powerful.

And I have lost some people 2 sentences ago! Some people are now thinking about all the movies, script, or individuals they know that are unaware of the powers they possess – usually in the context of emotional powers (insert every girl or guy who could disarm you with a smile or issues that always tug at your heart-strings). This scenario is perfectly placable and more common that people give it credit for. Why?, the control of power is not always in the possession of the more knowledgeable individual. However, the mere act of knowing puts you in the awkward and sometimes disheartening position where an action has an undermining or uplifting effect on you.

Herein comes the blissfulness of being ignorant. When one does not know what they are missing, when they have no understanding or the capacity to appreciate the value or presence of an event, an action, an item, they are in a state of complete happiness. You are content! and everyone around you who is aware, who is knowledgeable envies the blissfully ignorant because the mere thought of such utter ignorance, of compete bliss has the power to make you pessimist, it has the power to make you doubt your ways of life. So you attempt to educate the blissful ignorant, thereby ruining their state of complete happiness as they are now very aware of the void their lack of knowing has left in someone else. They become aware of the powers they possess to make changes; powers which can sometimes be so minutely felt that it would have been better to be blissfully ignorant.

The story does not stop there, the ignorant is now knowledgeable and the knowing fellow now satisfied to have educated the ignorant of the errors of their ways. The sheer unpredictability of life has just made the ignorant knowledgeable and the knowledgeable ignorant since the knowing individual has being failed to understand the concept of life – the act of knowing does not translate to things going the way they should or you want them to.

So then, who is the knowledgeable and who is the ignorant ones? Should we all live in an evolving state of blissfully with power being passed through mere interaction with one another with none the wiser.

The Absence of Success is not the Presence of Failure

I can tell you as someone who has experience different forms of failure, failing is not easy! why?, because you most certainly did not set out to fail in the first place – and if you  my dear friend did set out to fail or have been called “someone who can do nothing but fail”, the you my friend are a WINNER! – you have managed to succeed at failing, which i can tell you is a mean feat in its own right.

Failing has so much mad press that we forget that only the lucky ones succeed the first time round. Yes, i used the forgiven word to hardworkers – Lucky. But i want you to read that word over and over again and tell yourself that hardwork + luck (or  good timing for the no-label users) = success, because no matter how hard you work and how many doors you knock, if your timing is off, you aren’t going to get the result you want.

I have failed several times over – I have gotten Fails in tests, a 2.2 degree, failed to show compassion in relationship, failed to get loads of jobs. I have failed! This, however does not make me a failure. I am not a failure because everytime I have failed, I have learnt one more way not to fail. I know I have one less way of failing because i have tried something and know not to go that exact route again. I found that learning what not to do is possibly the most effective (despite depressing) way of learning what best to do. The process of failing and failing before you succeed is not easy! It is a path that is sometimes very painful, very costly and downright depressing. BUT once you move past the pain and agony, once you put on your well-worn armour and brave face, you realise that you haven’t lost, you have just run into a pothole on the road to success and you need a change of tyres. At this point, don’t be afraid to fix your suspension (your support system, friends/family/mentors), recharge your batteries (get some rest, breath and reassess), change your oil (cv/job/study time/diet/anything), and have a look at your map (decide on the way forward). Once you have had a tune up, you can then have another go at succeeding.

It took me a few months to realise this process, but I did realise that me failing was not the end of the road. I learnt so much about life and myself in my attempt at succeeding that i stopped thinking of my lack of successes as fails, I began to see them as pit-stops on the way to success.  So, I leave you with the words of Edwin C. Bliss as you move from “failing” to succeeding with a backpocket of stories to remind you to that success is never out of your reach.

“Success does not mean the absence of failures.
It means the attainment of ultimate objectives.
It means winning the war, not every battle.” – Edwin C. Bliss

 

Success is an iceberg. Source Google

 

Pretence 101: Adulthood

You know that saying that if you believe in yourself anything is possible, well I have adopted that principle to adulthood. As you are all (not) aware that I turned 22!! a week ago, and since I realised that in all my pretence to be an adult, I have fully embraced, unwillingly if I might add, all the trappings of the adulthood thing.

No matter how old I get, I would still HATE shopping 

I can do my laundry the way I WANT IT  

Sleep is MY new BEST FRIEND

 

I tried beer and it isn’t Horrible

 

Best of all, 

I am perfectly content with where I am right now – I am still broke, single and looking for a graduate job BUT my birthday this year was the best because I was on the right path. I actually realised that despite what my undergraduate lecturer and the HR woman from the bank which shall not be mentioned, I am SMART, BEAUTIFUL and will be SUCCESSFUL (in Investment Banking – my internship reference proves it)!

In other news, i almost like a boy and no longer mind taking pictures – enjoy

 

Ever After

Many a times, I sit wondering if there is such as thing as Happy Ever After. I just don’t mean the one you see on TV with Cinderella and all the other Disney characters – I mean real life happy ever after. Let’s be honest this is not the newest topic on planet earth but I’m quite fascinated by happily ever afters. Some people say yes they are happy ever afters whilst some adamantly protest against the very notion of happy ever afters.
I am of the opinion that we go through life in a series of happy ever afters. Frankly the notion of having just one happy ever after is just too depressing to think-I will like to think I would live my life with many many happy moments. But really what counts as a happy ever after – by its most popular definition it means finding love in another person BUT is that all there is to it. What if I am one of the unlucky ones and never find love, does that mean I don’t have a happy ever after? Does pursuing a career and wealth stop me from finding love another person?
Well, I think not! I will live my life with many many happy ever afters because I have decided to mark the end of every happy phase in my life at the end of the story. Think you it as the series 24 – the characters always change every season but the constant are Jack Bauer and Chloe O’Brian – I am the one constant in my life and everyone else just moves along. I have happy days and I have bad days but in the end I will relish in the thought that I will had many happy days by the time I’m gone.