Information vs Knowledge

We are drowning in information yet starved for knowledge.

~John Naisbitt

Tell People What They Want To Know

"Daddy," a little boy asked "where did I come from?"

The father gulped and realized that this was the important question he had anticipated since his son was born. He then went into a long-winded explanation of  "the birds and the bees" doing his best to explain the miracle of birth in words that his young son could understand. When he was done, he asked his son, "what prompted you to ask about this today?"

"Oh, well there's a new kid in the neighborhood and he's from Nashville, and I just wondered where I came from."

The lesson here is to tell people what they actually want to know, not what we think they want to know.  So often we give people information they do not need or want, and it doesn't help us or them.  There's an expression I always liked, "before you put your tongue on the accelerator put your ear in gear." So be sure to listen and actually hear what it is that people want to know and respond to them with that information.

Education

An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know.  It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't.  It's knowing where to go to find out what you need to know; and it's knowing how to use the information you get.

~Anatole France

If I knew you and you knew me

If I knew you and you knew me --
If both of us could clearly see,
And with an inner sight divine
The meaning of your heart and mine --
I'm sure that we would differ less
And clasp our hands in friendliness;
Our thoughts would pleasantly agree
If I knew you and you knew me.

If I knew you and you knew me,
As each one knows his own self, we
Could look each other in the face
And see therein a truer grace.
Life has so many hidden woes,
So many thorns for every rose;
The "why" of things our hearts would see,
If I knew you and you knew me.
  

~Nixon Waterman

Feelings

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others ,including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all went to their boats and left.

Love wanted to persevere until the last possible moment. When the island was almost sinking, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel, "Vanity, please help me!" "I can't help you Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat." Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked for help, "Sadness, let me go with you." "Oh....Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her!

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come Love, I will take you." It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot to ask the elder his name. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went his own way.

Love realizing how much he owed the elder and asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who helped me?" "It was Time," Knowledge answered. "Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?" Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because, only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is."

One lesson from this parable is clearly evident -but another is how our emotions can conflict with one another to cause problems, such as getting off the sinking island.  However, with time, we can overcome our emotional challenges as well as other challenges we face.
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