Friday, 8 November 2013

All that glitters

        I guess we all know that old chestnut. 'All that glitters is not gold' it's one of those old sayings that our grandparents, and their parents, knew. I know that when I was a teenager, my grandmother used to say it to me. Not that I ever really knew what she meant. I suppose, I assumed it was something to do with jewellery, it always bemused me for a few seconds. Stopping me in my tracks as I tried to decipher it, which, I suppose had the desired effect. To me, it was only one of those things adults insisted on saying. The kind of things, that as a young person, make you sigh...Many of those sayings went right over my head.
         I am not sure at what point they began to make sense to me. I do know that an awful lot of them stuck. I am not adverse, to dropping a few into my conversation today. Probably, with much the same result as my grandmother had, and desired to get. With the young, what we hope for is to make them thinking beings. The kind of person who considers what they do, and why they do it. Who ask them selves the question, is this decision, this act, the direction I want my life to go? Where will it put me?
        A utopian situation, perhaps unabtainable. Although, if we all, had always been so smart, how many crisis could we have minimised. How many mistakes avoided. The thing is, growing, is learning. Ageing should also be growing in wisdom, and not just wrinkles. It's just that there are always so many unknowns a well. It's as much about making an informed decision, as anything else. The young, and in my experience, many of the old too, rush decisions, or react through emotional constrains. It is the worst way to make any decision.
        Do you remember The Queen, song? 'I want it ALL....I want it NOW!' I can just see Freddie Mercury belting that out, as he swung the mike on its stand. He is a case in point I suppose, someone with incredible talent, who burnt out too quickly. He wanted it all, so many dreams, so much inspiration, so much need to experience all he could. The result being, perhaps he was not careful enough, he lost the race. As did many of the same generation, and as they still do today.
         It's why a large section of the population read their stars, visit clairvoyants, or psychics. If someone could give us a bit of the larger picture, how much easier would be our decision. Of course there are other ways of slanting the odds in your favour. Most of those take longer, that's all. You can investigate any situation. Read up on it, or ask for references, speak to people who have been there. Make yourself a list of prominent points you need to know, and work your way through them. Or, the slowest of all, watch, wait, and see what happens before you commit yourself. The message being....don't take things at face value, they are not always as they seem, or what you wish they were. Or, all that glitters is not gold!
         We older, or wiser know that don't we? You see, I put myself into that section, of knowing what I'm doing. I don't, of course, I still make mistakes. I misjudge situations, trust when I should be wary. Rush, when I should be cautious. If I knew it all, I would not have to be here at all would I? I would be floating up there somewhere, hopefully with a pair of shiny wings, being near to perfect. As you can see, I am still here labouring away at getting it right. I also feel I will be here an awfully long time. No doubt like many of my family, living to great old age. Does that mean I have an incredible lot still to learn. Probably, exactly the case, I fear.
          In the meantime, we need to take heed of all those old proverbs. Those little jems of wisdom, dropped into our consciousness at some point during the past. Are they actually from the type of winged being of which I wrote? Is that where they began? Even if a person thought they suddenly had a flash of wisdom, and wrote it down. From where did it come? Ah ha, something to ponder on, for you thinkers out there.
          Another little thought for the writers amongst you, from where do you get your inspiration? Is it only your amazing imagination, your burgeoning talent, or something more. How many of you use your dreams, those hazy, half remembered images from when you sleep. An amazing number of us, use parts of those. I know I do. Only reflect how many of today's inventions were first written of, or drawn in books, magazines, or comics. Space travel, being a big one, medical advances, and many more.
          OK we are not quite up to superheroes yet, but last night I saw the first rocket man on the TV news. Shooting along with a neat little jet pack on his back. That's not too far off is it?
           But, as usual, I digress. My brain looping off an a tangent. I think the other thing we all need to take into account, is the other, and often opposite messages out there. The ones you see all the time, and must choose to ignore. As I wrote this, in a cafe, as I often do, a girl walked past wearing a very pretty tee shirt. What did it say, what legend adorned it?
            'Diamonds, are a girls best friend!' Is not exactly, 'all that glitters is not gold' is it?
            Now, where did that very appropriate message come from...it must be for me, mustn't it. I know, in that direction, gleaning messages off tee shirts, can lead to madness... Oh well, I might see things even clearer then. Ha ha
            Back to the wings, I guess I will have to wait, to be sure where these little nuggets of wisdom come from. I will have to learn even more patience, and wisdom, trucking on here for a good while longer yet.
            Happy reading,  my treasures.
        

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