So, the title of this blog may be a little misleading, and also sound a little harsh. Our society has taken the word ignorance and used it improperly so often that the true meaning is often lost on some people. Let’s start with a definition.
Merriam-Webster’s defines ignorance as: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.
I want to primarily focus on the last part of that definition, the lack of awareness. Have you ever met someone that, either by design of nature or personal preference, is so completely ignorant of the way the world works, they constantly remain happy? Now I am not saying that ignorance is a prerequisite to being happy, but these people are almost unnaturally happy. Now, you may be wondering why I have chosen this topic, and it is because I honestly envy these people. They possess a childlike innocence that very many of us tend to lose around the age of ten these days. As growing teenagers we become very aware of the way the world expects people to act, as the downtrodden race that inhabits this planet. Why downtrodden? Because we have so many worries: love, money, our job, our credit rating, the environment, saving the whales, that flat tire we got this morning, that check that might bounce if things don’t go just right, the list goes on and on. Those who are ignorant to the ways of the world don’t seem to have the problem of being downtrodden. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying these people do not have problems, in some circumstances these people have grave medical issues, or mental issues, that could cost them their lives at any moment. They, however, do not let these things get in the way of their life. Their outlook just seems to be “why be sad, when happy is so much better”.
What lessons can we, the educated, knowledgeable, and aware learn from these people? That our misery is brought upon ourselves. This has a dual meaning, but the most obvious is that we make ourselves unhappy. When we wake up in the mornings and realize that life is pounding down on us we make the decision that we are going to let it bother us. The deeper meaning in this is that usually, not always, but most of the time we have chosen to be in the position we are in. If you have bad credit, it normally is not your neighbors fault, you’ve done something in the past to deserve that classification.
So here is what I want you to do: First, you need to start taking responsibility for where you are in your life. We are where we are because we made a decision. It may have been a bad decision, it may have been a good decision with bad results, it may have been a bad decision with good intentions, not matter what it is, it was your decision. Second, you need to decide to be happy. I know we’ve heard the motivational speakers say it for years, but it honestly is true that a positive mental attitude can make a world of difference. Just look at the people who don’t know any better than to be happy, and you’ll realize that you can choose to be happy.
