Talking Snapshots

I'll be talking about some things to help improve the quality of our lives. These are principles captured in form of memes or WhatsApp statuses.

This hit me hard, like really hard. The weight of these few words can not be overestimated. Just like it says, there are multiple ways to learn wisdom as is every other thing in life. The one you choose or use depends on the circumstances surrounding us at the time, less so as the kind of person you are.

Without any contradictions, we all know learning by imitation is the easiest. This is so because it doesn't require any initiative on your part other than looking at what people are doing and replicating it. What then happens when there's nobody to imitate??

Learning by experience is the most bitter. Why? Cos you will make many mistakes and get burned quite a few times along the way. Sometimes these mistakes might prove fatal or really damaging, but then it is what it is. This is not to say it's bad, it's just not the best way to learn there is.

Learning by reflection on the other hand is hard, but quite rewarding. Learning by reflection simply implies putting in the mental effort to understand the principles that governs what there's to learn and applying in your brain's virtual space, ensuring it has a high probability of working before applying it to real life situation.

Our education system today is built on the principles of learning by all three. The combination of the three helps remove their disadvantages while amplifying their individual benefits. Choose for yourself, the method that best suit you and master it, and of course you can also master a combination of all.

You know, in a world where achievers are celebrated and their less achieving compatriots are treated like lesser beings, it can be really hard to celebrate the wins of friends or colleagues. The world seems to be structured in such a way that we are in unsolicited competition with almost everybody, especially our friends and loved ones. In such a structure, a win for a friend is perceived as a loss, as you're now behind. You might feel the urge to pull that person down. While it might be human to feel this way, you can not let it dominate you.

You might not want to hear this, but the truth is, pulling the person down, won't uplift you. Like the snapshot says, blowing out another's light, won't make yours shine brighter, and you better believe that. As a friend or loved one, it falls to you to help them protect that light jealously like it's yours, because someday, it will be your light shining and karma is one little unforgiving bi*ch. If you pull someone down in their glory days, someone will also do same to you and vice versa.

When we talk about self love, the first thing that comes to mind is positive affirmation to oneself. You know, 'the look at a mirror and tell yourself beautiful things' scenario. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. The truth is, you need to know whom you're loving. Remember that you're the sum of all your experiences in life, and to love yourself, you can't be hating or regretting the experiences that made you who you are now.

All I'm saying is this, make peace with everything that has played a role in making you who you are today. That's the only way you're truly going to love yourself.

Thanks for reading..