Our knowledge is an accumulation of experience that is reaped via: parental upbringing, siblings, traditional schooling, "school of hard knocks!", friends, work, reading, TV and, last but not least, circumstances.
Correct solutions to mathematical problems, crossword puzzles and any other form of mental challenge depends on one's education and accumulated knowledge and cannot be attained simply via intelligence or inspiration.
If you agree with the aforementioned statements, then let's together address the question: Can we resolve circumstantial challenges through accumulated knowledge?
On posing that question, I suspect you'll notice that a circular argument, similar to the unresolved question: "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" is encountered here!
As a result of grappling with this intriguing question for some time, I arrived at the following thoughts (and I would be presumptuous if I were to call it an answer):
· As free thinkers, we naturally accumulate knowledge, and, even when our experience appears to be almost identical, we never accumulate knowledge at the same pace or in the same way
· Furthermore, as our brains are wired differently, our emotional responses in dealing with our circumstances will invariably differ
· In the process of aging we acquire wisdom but our retention of knowledge inevitably diminishes and our memory ultimately fades away
And:
· We adapt and adjust our responses to circumstances differently.
· We continue to fine tune our thoughts as time goes by
· As time is unidirectional and cannot be locked or reversed (as much as we would like it to!!) we are continuously confronted with circumstantial challenges
Inevitably and fortunately there are positive factors that we also encounter over time. Fortunately these have a tempering effect on our circumstantial challenges and allow us to proceed to the next challenge in our lives.
As the saying goes: Life Goes On!
These are my present thoughts on that matter. They may change in time as my challenges dictate!
May your circumstantial challenges always be far outweighed by the positive factors in your life!
Hani Badawi
April 12, 2017
