In a world based on judgment, education teaches you how to judge. Going to school is one of the most central experiences in the formation of your judging habit.
By the time you get out of school, your judging habit is firmly implanted. You’re more confused than ever about who you are and what you should do with your life. Your purpose could be anything, so severely has your connection with your design been severed. Your ability to derive direction and clarity from your circumstances has been entirely over-written. In its place, is a world of limited truths, where knowledge is king and proof-based science defines reality.
As you start to live your adult life, judgment is both the means to navigate life and the source of your greatest frustrations. Expertise becomes your GPS. The most important skill of living in the physical realm – your ability to participate in the creativity of life – is lost, as your own ability to be creative is lost. You’ve forgotten about the connection that is designed to give you purpose and belonging. You are left searching for yourself in a sea of opinions and attitudes, in which you never seem to find a safe place to anchor. With any luck, you start to come around when the storm of midlife crisis hits. Only once you hit rock bottom do you begin to let go of the truths your training has instilled in you.
But don’t blame the educators. Don’t accuse them of sending you down a solemn path, in pursuit of happiness that cannot be found. Judging people know no other way than to create judging systems, that create more judging people, to prepare you for a judging world. Without a doubt, judging has played a vital part in human evolution. Now the time for the evolution to continue.
Life is a constant cycle of refreshing itself. A new brand of policymakers is sure to be on the rise. The educational institutions of tomorrow – if they are institutions at all – are already looking at expanding their curricula to include, first and foremost, skills of self-realization and self-love. Certainly, knowledge can inspire and aid in self-discovery. Learning is a passion for life. But knowledge alone has no conscience. The intellect can justify anything. The power of knowledge becomes misleading – if not destructive – if acquired without context. The ability to hold space and stay connected to the current of life is what gives everything meaning.
Ultimately, the best education is the school of life. Once the futility of the judging life becomes apparent, change is inevitable. You realize you’ve been living by others’ truths. Having to let go of your expectations and rebuild your life can be the most stressful event. But it’s also an incredible opportunity to course correct. You get to put yourself back together again in a way that is more authentically you. That is always a good thing.
What drives your journey is the feeling that you’re not you, yet. Regardless of what situation you find yourself in, now is always the best time to be more of you. Every situation benefits from you being more of you. Courses, programs, and mentorship on personal growth and self-care are more available and accessible than ever before. There are more people, places and communities dedicated to the adventure of self-discovery than ever before. In re-connecting with your realized self, your main obstacle is no longer your environment, but your own limiting beliefs.
There is no greater contribution you can make to the collective than to be you. You is where you find unity. It’s the personal journey that leads to collective transformation.
Life is your school. Enjoy your journey!
