Ravensong Poetry And Writing Blog by Donovan Baldwin

 By Donovan Baldwin

Over the years, I have been an instructor in many different situations, although most specifically as an Army NCO, and a truck driving instructor. I have also had to train new employees at various jobs, one fairly technical (optician in an optical lab), and several other general, retail sales, customer service, food preparation and service, etc.

One of the more common attitudes that I encountered was, "I never realized this was so complicated..."

Or, "So THAT'S why you do that!" (And why YOU will do it THAT way, Padawan."

Of course as a truck driving instructor, another common attitude was, "Those people in the little cars are crazy, and I used to drive like that..."

Or, "They're going to get somebody killed..."

I guess the key point is "ignorance". Now, ignorance, unless intentional, is not a sin. It just means that, for some reason, you simply don't "know"... haven't been enlightened yet.

Maybe you haven't had a chance to learn, maybe there was no reason to learn, or opportunity, or, maybe, no one to teach you. No Obi-Wan Kenobi to your Luke Skywalker...

Okay, enough already with the Star Wars references.

And yet, up until the epiphany of enlightenment of my instruction, or whatever showed them "the light", they were certain they were "right"... even though "wrong".

Well, maybe not even "wrong", just the information perhaps did not apply to their life's needs, decisions, or purposes.

You usually don't know you're lacking something until you've had it and THEN lose it. So, if you didn't know the knowledge existed, or that it might do you some good to have it, why should you feel any lack in your life for not having it?

How do you know what you don't know?

I guess my point is, I've stepped into many situations in my 78 10/12 years, and still do from time to time, where I suddenly realize that I have just learned something that I've lived over three-quarters of a century without knowing... and suddenly something made sense, and I realized that something had been missing.

Epiphany.

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Copyright January 14, 2024 by Donovan Baldwin

Labels: donovan baldwin, epiphany, essay, ignorance, right and wrong

By: Donovan Baldwin

A few years ago, there was a time in my life when it seemed that everything I did, everything I thought, was "wrong".

People told me, and life demonstrated, it seemed, that I was a fool.

I wanted to argue my case, "prove" that I was right. Even more I wanted "them" to know that they were wrong.

Finally, I hit on the ultimate solution: I was going to outlive everybody! That way the time would come when I could laugh at them because they were dead, I was alive, and I was "right" by default.

Over time I came to realize a couple of problems with that plan.

First, being alive didn't make me right, and, them being dead sort of took all the fun out of being right...if I WAS right.

See, that was the problem.

Ninety-nine percent of the "rights" and "wrongs" in the equation were "beliefs" and "opinions"...not facts.

It was then I began to see the real solution. Proving that my "right" was the "right" right was impossible. In fact, I could even be wrong!

That wasn't right!

Then I figured out the real solution.

I can only live and enjoy life doing what I BELIEVE is right. It doesn't really matter what others think or say about my honest beliefs.

So, they can be right, I can be right, even though one of us may be wrong.

As long as I do what I think is right, I don't need to worry about what they think is right.

Right?

Labels: beliefs, donovan baldwin, how to live, life lesson, live your own life, opinions, right, right and wrong, wrong

By: Donovan Baldwin

We often think about "right and wrong" as if each of us always knows exactly what that is.

I know that I have at times.

A year or so ago, I canceled cable and switched to antenna TV.

While I do get many current TV programs, a lot of what's available goes back to much earlier times. Lassie and The Lone Ranger...stuff like that. Columbo, Adam-12, Emergency, and Quincy M.E. Shows from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.

What's really interesting to me is the evidence of social groupings, commonly held beliefs, and "normal" activity that might get someone thrown in jail today.

Sure, it's fiction, but, it reflected the thought processes of the day, and, watching from my imperial height of 72 years, it becomes plain to me how, in many ways, and, in many minds, "right" and "wrong" have changed places been redefined or assigned new or different values.

While genuine right and wrong might not change, otherwise they would not be right or wrong, perceived right and wrong goes up and down, back and forth depending on the prevailing winds blowing through the society and government of the moment.

It can be confusing, even without the pressures of modern, multi-cultural society, to decide what to believe, who to support, and what virtue, or vice, to admit to.

I just do my best from day to day, and hope everything comes out okay.

I have lived through seven decades and am on my eighth, give me a break, please.

My concepts and definitions of right and wrong may not always be the same as yours.

Labels: donovan baldwin, life lesson, right, right and wrong, society, wrong