Living life is difficult enough. Writing about that life is an entirely different issue. Over the years, I had thought that I was a fairly decent communicator. I subsequently realized that I was not as good as a communicator as I thought. I was a very good English student in grade school as well as in college. After many years of reading various different types of material, I had learned how to communicate well from reading other people’s words.
It wasn’t until my first editing experience, that I realized that I was not as good a writer as I had thought. I thought that I had gone through enough red markings and need for corrections during grade school and college. I later found out that the learning process of writing is never truly over.
It is one thing to place your thoughts via words onto paper, whether written or typed. It is another thing to be able to properly follow the basic rules of English. The one thing that I did have going for me was the fact that I was at the very least consistent. That consistency aided me in knowing that not all hope in being a writer was over. We are all good at some things. Other things we are not so good at. When you are honest with yourself, you can then realize that you need assistance. I may be many things and many things I accept that I am. One thing that I am not is afraid to admit when I am not good enough in one area or another.
I had learned over the years that life is for the living. No matter how much you talk to others, how many books you read, how many things that you may think you know, experience is the best teacher. Experience is the qualifier or disqualifier. You will know what you are good at when it works for you consistently. It may not work always, but if it works the majority of the time, that will give you the confidence that you are good at it. Conversely,[1] you will know that you are not good at something when it consistently does not work for you. It is a way to let you know that perhaps you should try something else.
I am always willing to learn from others and do my very best to take others seriously. Especially if it is clear that they know well what they are doing. I do my best to learn from others’ mistakes as much as possible so that I can preserve my life as much as possible. Once you have been through some tough situations in life, you begin to look for opportunities to ensure that you will no longer waste time, effort, and money.
As the last stages of Volume II of the Work culminates,[2] I have learned so much over the years about life. I have learned so much about people and how they work. This is a life long process. I do not in any way believe that I know all that there is to know about people. I don’t think that there is any we can know all that there is about anything in one lifetime. I do know much more about life and people than I knew before.
I had no idea that during this journey I would through perusing the various material that I did, that I would stumble upon the focal point leading to understanding people. I had thought that this study was to learn about myself and what happens after we leave here, or at the very least the meaning of life. I do not attest[3] to know what the meaning of life is. I am still learning just as I am sure that many others, if not all of us, are doing so.
[1] Conversely – Introducing a statement or idea which reverses one that has just been made or referred to. Oxford Dictionary Online.
[2] Culminate – Reach a climax or point of highest development. Oxford Dictionary Online.
[3] Attest – Declare that something exists or is the case. Oxford Dictionary Online.
A Traveler 