#20: LIFE IS A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS
Let's pretend your wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy a week ago to your first child, who, I'm sure you're so excited about right now. Yes, right? You've become a father.
But then, you know babies can't talk neither can they express their worries in any other way rather than crying. Thus, as a newbie in the field of parenting you've got quite a lot of work in terms of understanding the verbal and nonverbal cues of babies.
As such you start observing, observing and observing the baby.
The last time the baby cried, you were confused and you didn't know
what to do. As time went by, you started asking yourself hypothetical questions. Questions like:
• Is the baby crying because he is hungry?
• Is the baby crying because he's feeling hot?
• Is the baby crying because he's sick?
• Is the baby crying because an insect stung him?
•Is the baby crying because his diaper needs change?
Hypothetical questions are posed as a result of a reasonable doubt behind an observation. Thus, by the time you try to find out which of the question is true, you're indirectly experimenting.
Let's say you presume that the baby is crying because he is hungry and then you decide to tell your wife to breastfeed him and then voila, the baby stops crying.
You'll be like okay, so the baby was crying because he's hungry.
Let's take another scenario in which you presume the baby is crying because he wants his diaper changed.
As you try to change the diaper, you then discover that oops! The baby pooed. So, you change it and then voila, the baby stops crying.
You'll be like okay, so the baby was crying because he wasn't comfortable with his diaper.
As you're trying to find out the truth about these hypothetical questions, you're updating your knowledge on babies and that is equivalent to stacking your intellectual cupboard.
You are getting to understand what and what not can make a baby just to start crying. Thus, what you're doing, as I said earlier, is a kind of experiment.
In this light, let's take this baby anology and see it in the big picture.
Let's see life as a series of experiments in which we have hypothetical questions that we want answered.
However, to answer these questions, we must try out different things so as to know what questions have valid answers and vice versa—which one works and which one doesn't—doing so is the ultimate way of understanding life from a better perspective.
The first time I read this quote, my brain did get in sync with what Ralph said because truly, life is a series of experiments. Thus making it a continually evolving process.
If you watch closely, you'd see that you learn a thing or two everyday. You make decisions that alter the course of your life every now and then.
You also make mistakes that messes you up sometimes. Nonetheless, you eventually pick-up yourself and keep moving because that's life.
Seeing life as an evolving process; a step by step means in which you get to expand your horizon by series of trials and errors is one sure way to understand life in a broader perspective.
At the bottom of it, your life will be nothing rather than boring if you decide to see life as a thing in which you'll keep doing the same things everyday.
Without trying to experiment on things and learning from the mistakes involved, you definitely aren't going anywhere because you'll be stuck in thesame place without really adding value to your life.
Through this means, you'll get to know your highs and lows. Your strengths and weaknesses. What and what not to do and quite a number of other things in order not mess up yourself.
Thus, in this regard, I see life as a series of experiments. One that we'll keep trying out new things just to see what works out and what doesn't work out.
If a particular thing we try works out, fine and good. We incorporate that thing and the lessons we learn from it into our thinking and eventually make it a part of our identity. And if it doesn't, we let go and keep searching for a better experience.
That's the circle.
I know it can be scary to try out new things. But the truth is if you don't, you won't get to know many things. As noted by bestselling author Mark Manson, “being open with your insecurities paradoxically makes you more confident and charismatic around others.”
Just as a caterpillar comes out of its cocoon, so we must come out of our comfort zone if we truly want to experience life at its fullest.
But then, you know babies can't talk neither can they express their worries in any other way rather than crying. Thus, as a newbie in the field of parenting you've got quite a lot of work in terms of understanding the verbal and nonverbal cues of babies.
As such you start observing, observing and observing the baby.
The last time the baby cried, you were confused and you didn't know
what to do. As time went by, you started asking yourself hypothetical questions. Questions like:
• Is the baby crying because he is hungry?
• Is the baby crying because he's feeling hot?
• Is the baby crying because he's sick?
• Is the baby crying because an insect stung him?
•Is the baby crying because his diaper needs change?
Hypothetical questions are posed as a result of a reasonable doubt behind an observation. Thus, by the time you try to find out which of the question is true, you're indirectly experimenting.
Let's say you presume that the baby is crying because he is hungry and then you decide to tell your wife to breastfeed him and then voila, the baby stops crying.
You'll be like okay, so the baby was crying because he's hungry.
Let's take another scenario in which you presume the baby is crying because he wants his diaper changed.
As you try to change the diaper, you then discover that oops! The baby pooed. So, you change it and then voila, the baby stops crying.
You'll be like okay, so the baby was crying because he wasn't comfortable with his diaper.
As you're trying to find out the truth about these hypothetical questions, you're updating your knowledge on babies and that is equivalent to stacking your intellectual cupboard.
You are getting to understand what and what not can make a baby just to start crying. Thus, what you're doing, as I said earlier, is a kind of experiment.
In this light, let's take this baby anology and see it in the big picture.
Let's see life as a series of experiments in which we have hypothetical questions that we want answered.
However, to answer these questions, we must try out different things so as to know what questions have valid answers and vice versa—which one works and which one doesn't—doing so is the ultimate way of understanding life from a better perspective.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The first time I read this quote, my brain did get in sync with what Ralph said because truly, life is a series of experiments. Thus making it a continually evolving process.
If you watch closely, you'd see that you learn a thing or two everyday. You make decisions that alter the course of your life every now and then.
You also make mistakes that messes you up sometimes. Nonetheless, you eventually pick-up yourself and keep moving because that's life.
At the bottom of it, your life will be nothing rather than boring if you decide to see life as a thing in which you'll keep doing the same things everyday.
Without trying to experiment on things and learning from the mistakes involved, you definitely aren't going anywhere because you'll be stuck in thesame place without really adding value to your life.
Through this means, you'll get to know your highs and lows. Your strengths and weaknesses. What and what not to do and quite a number of other things in order not mess up yourself.
Thus, in this regard, I see life as a series of experiments. One that we'll keep trying out new things just to see what works out and what doesn't work out.
If a particular thing we try works out, fine and good. We incorporate that thing and the lessons we learn from it into our thinking and eventually make it a part of our identity. And if it doesn't, we let go and keep searching for a better experience.
That's the circle.
I know it can be scary to try out new things. But the truth is if you don't, you won't get to know many things. As noted by bestselling author Mark Manson, “being open with your insecurities paradoxically makes you more confident and charismatic around others.”
Just as a caterpillar comes out of its cocoon, so we must come out of our comfort zone if we truly want to experience life at its fullest.
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