Knowing & Doing: Making sense of life, death, and consequences. Or not

So is the experience the only thing that matters?

I would say... yes and no. I believe that most recently in history, experience was sacrificed on the altar of reason. We don't need to necessarily experience it, it's enough to just believe it. I've got the right info in my head, so if it doesn't always show up in my life, that's alright... because I believe right.

But what happens when we make reason (or belief) the most important thing (more important than experience) is that whoever shouts the loudest, talks best, or is most convincing, can alter reality. When we base everything on what we "think," then we're in trouble, because I think differently today than I did yesterday. So simple "belief in", or "reasoning to" something can't be supreme.

But, if we make our experience our God, that leads to the worst kind of irresponsible pleasure-seeking-at-any-cost. If experience is most important, then whatever feels the best, IS the best. If my boss pisses me off, then I'm outta here. Unfortunately my wife and family are the victim because they're the ones who live in the house my job pays for. So simply chasing around what feels best can't be supreme either. What's the deelio?

Like I said earlier, I'm a big fan of experience, but what I'm a big fan of is "QUALITY" experience. I'm a big fan of making an educated step toward the very best experience possible. For me, that means choosing the thing that will yield the best possible results for the most possible people for the longest possible time. I used to follow Phish around the country. I had a blast. At the same time I was failing out of college. It was a trade off. At the time, I traded the "experience" of school for the "experience" of Phish. The problem was I didn't take into consideration the quality of my life as a result of each decision.

By choosing Phish, I was choosing to extend my college career. I was choosing to take out more student loans. In effect, I was choosing to saddle my lovely wife with $60,000 in debt before I even met her. Now I'm grateful for the Phish shows I saw. Honestly, I wouldn't trade them for anything. I learned a lot from my experiences there. But the reality is that my experiences cost me something that I desperately wish I COULD get back. I'll be wishing I could get those loans back for the next 10 years or so. Again, the best for the most people for the longest time.

What happens when you consciously decide what experiences you are going to subject yourself to is that you take as much control of your life as a person can have. If you rush headlong into whatever experience pops up, or whatever feels best now, then you're a victim of whatever consequences those decisions throw your way. But if you choose wisely, you still will have consequences for your decisions, but they become badges of honor, because you decided what, when, where, and how.

It's easy to see that we've killed "Experience." Equally sad would be to kill "Knowledge," in the same way. Better would be to Learn to make the "Knowledge" and "Experience" work together. Grab both. You choose. Life is coming one way or the other. You can choose where you go.

Yin ~ Yang. Carpe Diem.