What Does it Mean to Be Educated

Educated Whom, then, do I call educated? 

First, those who manage well the circumstances which they encounter day by day; and those who can judge situations appropriately as they arise and rarely miss the suitable course of action.

 Next, those who are honorable in their dealings with all men, bearing easily what is unpleasant or offensive in others, and being as reasonable with their associates as is humanly possible. 

Furthermore, those who hold their pleasures always under control and are not unduly overcome by their misfortunes, bearing up under them bravely and in a manner worthy of our common nature. 

Most important of all, those who are not spoiled by their successes, who do not desert their true selves, but hold their ground steadfastly as wise and sober-minded men, rejoicing no more in the good things that have come to them through chance than in those which through their own nature and intelligence are theirs since birth.

 Those who have a character which is in accord, not with one of these things, but with all of them these are educated-- possessed of all the virtues.
 --Socrates (47~399 B.C.)
 In a nutshell, educated persons are those who can choose wisely and courageously under any circumstances. If they have the ability to choose between wisdom and foolishness, between good and bad, between virtuousness and vulgarities, regardless of the academic degrees they have, then they are educated. 
An expert is someone who knows all the answers if you ask the right questions. 

EDUCATION DOES NOT MEAN GOOD JUDGEMENT

There is a story about a man who sold hot dogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers . He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hot dogs. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more meat and got himself a bigger and a better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad time." The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, and listened to the radio, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day, the father cut down his order for the meat and buns, took down the sign and was no longer enthusiastic. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hot dog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly. The father said to his son, "Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

 What is the moral of the story? 

1. Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment. 

2. A person may have high intelligence but poor judgment.

 3. Choose your advisers carefully and use your judgment.

 4. A person can and will be successful with or without formal education if they have the 5 Cs: 

• character 
• commitment
•  conviction 
• courtesy 
• courage 

5. The tragedy is that there are many walking encyclopedias who are living failures. 

Intelligence is quickness to learn. Ability is the skill to apply what is learned. Competence is the ability and the desire to apply what is learned. Desire is the attitude that makes a skillful person competent. Many skillful people are incompetent. Ability without the right attitude is wasted. 

The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not trade; character, not technicalities.

--Winston Churchill 

Get into a Continuous Education Program

Step 4: Let's get some myths out of the way. It is a general belief that we get educated in schools and colleges. I run seminars in many different countries and ask my audiences all the time, "Do we really get educated in schools and colleges?" Generally, there is a consensus that some do but most don't. We receive a lot of information in schools and colleges. Don't get me wrong. We do need information to be educated. But we need to know the true meaning of education. Intellectual education influences the head and values based education influences the heart. In fact, education t at does not train the heart can be dangerous. If we want to h build character in our offices, homes and society, we must achieve a minimum level of moral and ethical literacy. Education that builds fundamental traits of character--such as honesty, compassion, courage, persistence and responsibility--is absolutely essential. 

We don't need more academic education; we need more values education. I would stress that a person who is morally educated will be a lot better equipped to move up in life or succeed than a morally bankrupt person with excellent academic qualifications.

 Character building and teaching values and ethics come in the formative years because a child is not born with this knowledge.

 Education Without Values 

True education is training of both the head and the heart. An uneducated thief may steal from the freight car but an educated one may steal the entire railroad.

Universities are turning out highly skilled barbarians because we don't provide a framework of values to young people, who more and more are searching for it.
 --Steven Muller, President, Johns Hopkins University 

We need to compete for knowledge and wisdom, not for grades. Knowledge is piling up facts, wisdom is simplifying it. One could have good grades and a degree without learning much. The most important thing one can learn is to "learn to learn." People confuse education with the ability to memorize facts. 
Education of the mind without morals creates a menace to society. 

Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

Step 3:

 Count your blessings, not your troubles. Take time to smell the roses. It is not uncommon to hear that someone, because of an accident or illness, became blind or paralyzed but won a million dollars in settlement. How many of us would like to trade places with that person? Not many. We are so focused on complaining about things we don't have that we lose sight of the things we have. There is a lot to be thankful for.

 When I say count your blessings, not your troubles, the message is not to become complacent. If complacence was the message you got, then I would be guilty of faulty communication and you of selective listening. 

To give you an example of selective listening, let me share with you a story I heard about a medical doctor who was invited as a guest speaker to address a group of alcoholics. He wanted to make a demonstration that would be powerful enough to make people realize that alcohol was injurious to their health. He had two containers, one with pure distilled water and one with pure alcohol. He put an earthworm into the distilled water and it swam beautifully and came up to the top. He put another earthworm into the alcohol and it disintegrated in front of everyone's eyes. He wanted to prove that this was what alcohol did to the insides of our body. He asked the group what the moral of the story was and one person from behind said, "If you drink alcohol you won't have worms in your stomach." Was that the message? Of course not. That was selective listening--we hear what we want to hear and not what is being said. 

Many of our blessings are hidden treasures-- count your blessings and not your troubles. 

Live in the Present

Life is not a dress rehearsal. I don't care what philosophy you believe in--we have got only one shot at this game called life. The stakes are too high. The stakes are the future generations. What time is it and where are we? The answer is now and we are here. Let's make the best of now and utilize the present to the fullest. The message is not that we don't need to plan for the future. The message is that we do need to plan for the future. If we utilize our present to its fullest, we are sowing the seeds for a better future automatically, aren't we?

 If you want to build a positive attitude, learn the phrase, "do it now" and stop the habit of procrastination. The saddest words in life are:

•  "It might have been." 
• "I should have." 
• "I could have." 
• "I wish I had." 
• "If only I had given a little extra." 

Never leave till tomorrow which you can do today. --Benjamin Franklin

 I am sure all winners wanted to be procrastinators but never got around to it.

 When people say, "I will do it one of these days," you can be sure it means none of these days. Some people keep waiting for all lights to turn green before they leave home. That will never happen and they fail even before they start. That is sad.

 Stop procrastinating: Isn't it time that we put off putting things off? 

Make a Habit of Doing It Now

Step 2: 

 We have all procrastinated at some time in our lives. I know I have, only to have regretted it later. Procrastination leads to a negative attitude. The habit of procrastination fatigues you more than the effort it takes to do it. A completed task is fulfilling and energizing; an incomplete task drains energy like a leak from a tank. If you want to build and maintain a positive attitude, get into the habit of living in the present and doing it now.

 He slept beneath the moon 

He basked beneath the sun 

He lived a life of going to do 

and died with nothing done. 

--James Albery

 When I Become a Big Boy

 This is like the little boy who says when I become a big boy, I will do this and this and I will be happy. And when he becomes a big boy he says, when I finish college and do this and this and I will be happy. And when he finishes college he says when I get my first job and do this and this I will be happy. And when he gets his first job he says when I get married and do this and this and then I will be happy. And when he gets married he says when the kids get out of school and I do this and this I will be I happy. And when the kids get out of school, he says when I retire and do this and this, I will be happy. And when he retires what does he see? He sees life has just gone by in front of his eyes.

  Some people practice procrastination by hiding behind high sounding words, saying "I'm analyzing" and six months later they are still analyzing. What they don't realize is that they

are suffering from a disease called, "Paralysis of Analysis" and they will never succeed. 
Then there is another breed of people who procrastinate by saying "I'm getting ready" and a month later they are still getting ready and six months later they are still getting ready. What they don't realize is they are suffering from a disease called "Excusitis." They keep making excuses. 

SOME PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE NEGATIVE

• There was a hunter who bought a bird dog, the only one of its kind in the world. That could walk on water . He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw this miracle. At the same time, he was very pleased that he could show off his new acquisition to his friends. He invited a friend to go duck hunting. After some time, they shot a few ducks and the man ordered his dog to run and fetch the birds. All day-long, the dog ran on water and kept fetching the birds. The owner was expecting a comment or a compliment about his amazing dog, but never got one. As they were returning home, he asked his friend if he had noticed anything unusual about his dog. The friend replied, "Yes, in fact, I did notice something unusual. Your dog can't swim." Some people always look at the negative side. 

Who is pessimist?

 Pessimists are unhappy when they have no troubles to speak feel bad when they feel good, for fear they will feel worse when they feel better spend most of their life at complaint counters always turn out the lights to see how dark it is are always looking for cracks in the mirror of life stop sleeping in bed when they hear that more people die in bed than anywhere else cannot enjoy their health because they think they may be sick tomorrow not only expect the worst but make the worst of whatever happens don't see the doughnut, only the hole believe that the sun shines only to cast shadows forget their blessings and count their troubles know that hard work never hurts anyone but believe "why take a chance?"

Who is an optimist?
 It is well described by the following: Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.*