A Handful of Wisdom
The Only Five Things I Wish College Had Taught Me. I don't agree with all of it, but the writer makes some awfully good points. A few of my favorites:
"The best way to change the world is to change yourself." This is one of those aphorisms that even people who like those saccharine motivational posters would like, but it's true. Although it isn't quite strong enough. I would say, the only way to change the world is to change yourself, unless you stumble upon an improvement by accident. This, incidentally, is worth keeping in mind every time a politician is caught in yet another indiscretion. If they can't order their own lives, why do we think they have a snowball's chance in hell of improving society?
"Colleges need an entire course about the word “NO”. You need to say “NO” to people who invade your boundaries (very difficult)." This is a tricky thing, at least for a Catholic. As Thomas Dubay liked to point out, saints are people who say "YES." The thing is, saints didn't always say "YES." They said "NO" to sin. They also said "NO" to stupidity, even if they were a holy fool in other ways. They said "NO" to incompetence. So yes, we all need to learn to say "NO," especially when a "YES" will compromise higher pursuits (and interfere with our pursuit in the above paragraph).
"The most powerful words are silent. I had a dinner with Michael Fishman (cc Monica McCarthy) last week. He said, 'if even for one second you are preparing your response while someone else is talking, then you aren't listening.'" I'd never thought of it that way, but it's a truth worth pondering. I've been trying to implement the idea into my everyday interactions. It's amazing how much I'm hearing.
