"No Great wisdom can be received without sacrifice." - C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

Knowledge is a beautiful attribute to bear, much like raising a child, charitable, disciplinary, thriving. Obtaining knowledge comes with the responsibility of wisdom. An individual that puts his energy towards healthy knowledge, will most of the time proceed with strong wisdom, leading to a reflection of good character. The desire for knowledge and wisdom comes with self-discipline, strong will to learn, and sacrifice. Life is a pendulum of lessons. The duality sways one way of accepting and applying the lesson as progress for a healthy mind, a good nature quality, compassion, charismatic notoriety, a successful path or the pivotal direction of despair, ruin, negative thoughts, toxic behavior, skew judgments, a bad mindset. Where is your foundational source of knowledge? It may be through hitting the books, sitting through lectures given by a teacher or professor, movies, the internet, the media, circles of people, personal experiences, religion, politics. The pathways are almost infinite. The question, though, what you put in, does it put out what is beneficial to only you? To others? To the world?

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

I've heard a saying that goes, "with more knowledge, comes more sorrow." Now, the saying can sound depressing or even be discouraging, but I see it as a reality unless the knowledge is used for a greater purpose. You can learn all you want from the books or the wisdom of the world, but if you don't use what is learned, then what is the point? It might as well be as valuable as the dirt we walk on. Learning in arbitrary fashions is setting up for failure and disappointment. Years ago, I delved into that focus, I thought, "If I learn this particular way by walking with these group of people, or if I study this subject, I will be satisfied and I will figure out who I am." Sad to say, that's not the case, learning in all the wrong ways leads nowhere in finding who you are. As humans, we have a constant drive to learn our origin, our identity, so that we can live with purpose, with peace, with understanding. The drive can be a stigma to true growth of one's mindset, or it can be an obsession, driving one insane just to know the truth, finding some form of revelation. Absolutely that by choosing the right decisions will make prosperous and jovial lives, yet there is a great divide that literally is a living hell. Nobody is going to get it all in one shot, the thought is absurd and wishful thinking, we are going to fail in life, but a person's worth is not measured by the number of mistakes he makes, rather how he owns up to the mistake. Take a stand for what you believe in. Fall down and rise and rise and rise again. When you fall harder, get back up and climb that daunting mountain. There is nothing in this world that can stop you from obtaining your desire, except yourself. This is a simple psychology, but the curse of free will is battling with yourself. Say you look in the mirror, and you see yourself physically, hair, face, eyes, you know that this is your appearance, this is how you were created, glance again though and stare deeply. Do you see an evil mind or a beautiful soul?

Want a teacher, a counselor, a mentor to walk you down the right path? Of course, you do, wisdom isn't a Pez dispenser that you seem to gobble down then forget the very taste, seconds after. Wisdom from another individual takes effort as well as time to flourish. Understand people to be understood. Wisdom is a two-way street, the mindset commonly for some people is that only one individual gets something out of the experience when the experience is mutual. Picture a father and a son spending time together. The son is still grasping abstract concepts that he can't comprehend yet, and the father explains it best to his son's understanding. The father is lowering himself to his son's level so that his son can grow, while the son is receiving wisdom to learn these concepts, the father is also gaining wisdom through a humbling experience. This works with people, try focusing on the other people rather than yourself the next time you converse, and you'll start to see patterns in between people, more importantly within yourself.

Hold on to what is true, not just the truth you desire and believe in, but share the truth among people to form a bond. Learn and be merry, lead and follow, choose the right decision over the wrong. One day you will learn your purpose and in time to come, identity, happiness, love. Become the beautiful mind you were destined to be, to be a light in a dark world.