Smile

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life. 


That is a quote from John Lennon.

I read this quote, and recently I have been dealing with a lot of human ignorance. I sat down for a bit and really delved into the topic of happiness, and how it associates itself into our lives. Yet as I have discovered before, there is a lot that stands in the way of reaching personal happiness and enlightenment,  both internally and externally. One of the strongest external forces that prohibits happiness is ignorance, in oneself and in others. Consider this: ignorance is often claimed in spite. However, ignorance is a tool that works both ways.  Are those who claim others are ignorant just as ignorant as the accused? It's a lot to take in. But perhaps, it is indeed true.

But why be ignorant?

Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge or information, but what information is there to be lacking in? That of the accused, the other side that is so harshly judged by he who claims ignorance. A big part of life, at least to me, is tolerance. Learning how to accept things from other points of view and setting aside your point of view in order to understand others who feel differently about an issue. Isn't that how we all get along? I related that to the quote, how people defined Lennon's statement, how they were ignorant to what he was trying to say, that happiness is the key to life. What reason is there to be ignorant? Ignorant is only a method of stubborn nature, to claim that one belief is higher than another. That certainly isn't untrue, it only prohibits the progression of life. Happiness.

Just smile. It's what John would have wanted.