WHAT YOU KNOW IS WHERE YOU GO

“The more I learn, the more I know what I want to be.”

This is a sign that I have always seen on my way home posted just before a bridge. It’s a very small sign and is barely noticeable by the people passing by. I’ve been passing by it and keep on reading it for the past month and it never stops stirring my thoughts.

Why is it posted there? Who posted it there? When was it posted there and for what reason? Do the answers to these questions really matter? I guess not. What matters is what it does to people that gets to read it.

I’ve always been a keen observer when I travel, unless I’m asleep, and I always take notice of the signs that I see. I heed the warnings (traffic signs), laugh at erroneous signs and marvel at smart and mind-stimulating signs. Now, let’s focus on this sign that I always see whenever I’m on my way home and see what I can make of it. Some other quotes come to mind when I see it on my way home such as, “Knowledge is Power” or “Knowing makes you stop asking the Whys”. I tried to apply this to myself by associating it with my job. I have never thought that I would be in the industry that I am in nor have I ever wanted to be in it before. I’ve seen it as a job that can be done by almost anybody who speaks the language and have, at once in my life, looked down on it. Then came an opportunity for me to be in it. I grabbed it, hesitantly, and have learned the ins and the outs of the business. I got promoted and am now aiming for more. I have mentored people that have been successful in the same industry with some of them overtaking me (An achievement I take pride in). Looking at the bigger picture, it’s not about me nor the people that have succeeded in it that I have been a part of but rather the image of me and them learning and finding a path to success. By learning the business I knew that I can excel in it and I can make a career out of it. I guess this is the part where that “sign” applies to me.

Gist:

I never liked the business nor wanted to be a part of it because I did not understand what it was all about. The moment I learned and understood it was the time I knew it was something I wanted to be associated with.

Moral:

Do not judge an industry, a profession or even a person if you do not fully understand the nature of it. Maybe I can try and learn how to make a table and a chair and want to be a carpenter. Maybe I can try and learn how to cook and be a chef. Maybe I can try and understand how to be corrupt and be a politician. (This is supposed to be a joke)

Closing:

Is there any profession, industry, business that you don’t want to be in that you don’t really understand? Try and be in their shoes before even trying to pass judgment.