Friday, June 22, 2012

Be Smart and then Be Smarter

Dear Claire,

Life is funny, in that just when you think you have something figured out, it goes and changes.  Fashion is like that, hair is like that, and bigger things like religion, the environment, our government, your values, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you feel about others, will always seem to be changing.

But don't worry, I figured out what the most intelligent thing you can ever say is.  It's simple, it's easy to remember, and it's only six words: "I changed my mind about that". 

People who change their minds are the most brilliant of all people.  People who change their minds are gathering more information all the time.  These people are listening to the opinions of others and seeing how they might fit with or challenge their own.  They are constantly reading books, magazines, and articles about topics that interest them.  These people are happy and proud to admit that their old way of thinking has changed - it means they're growing.  It means they were smart, but then they became smarter.  

It is silly people who never change their mind. These people will argue something to the death and not take a single thing away from the other side to reflect on.

Thinking is something anyone can do, RE-THINKING is the true challenge.

For example, when I was ten years old, I thought that 'The New Kids on the Block' were going to be the next Beatles.  I changed my mind about that.

When I was fourteen, I thought that we should just print off endless amounts of money so that no one would be poor.  I thought that people living with AIDS should be sequestered so that no one else would catch it.  I thought that we learned history so that we would make the same mistakes.  I believed in the death penalty.  I changed my mind about all of those things.

When I was sixteen, I thought that loyalty was the most important quality a person could have.  I changed my mind about that.

When I was twenty-one, I thought that parents were just too over-protective and worried way too much about their kids.  I changed my mind about that too.

I also thought a lot of things were going to be really easy in life and instead they turned out to be pretty hard. 

In life, don't ever let your mind become stagnant.  Don't be embarrassed of the things you used to think, and don't ever be afraid to admit you were wrong.  Whatever you think today, you might think differently tomorrow - and that's they beauty of being a person.

Love Mom

 

2 comments:

  1. I love this post Lindsay! Well said. I'm still holding out for the New Kids on the Block though.... :D

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