As I was reading my book the other day, one sentence jumped out at me:
"Being told is not the same as knowing"
from My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons
It stuck with me, and when I started to think about it I realized it had more than one meaning to me. In the book it is said by a woman who is told that she is beautiful, and I understand her feelings about it. But to me the first thing that struck me about this sentence was that it is a very pedagogical thing to say. It is what we always hear about in class, and lately I've experienced myself how true it is! Like the other day when I sat with the same geometrical problem for eight hours; constantly asking the person next to me to explain, and everytime thinking that I understood this, but then to realize that as soon I tried to look at it on my own I was completely lost again! It is such a frustrating feeling...
The other thing that came to my mind was totally different from the first. At a stressful time in my life, I started to think about how I didn't tell my uncle that I loved him the last time I saw him. I have thought about this more than once before, regretting that I didn't. But when I read that sentence in my book I got to thinking that maybe he knew. Maybe I didn't have to tell him, because I had showed it to him in other ways. I think I learned something that time when I realized what I should have done but hadn't, and when I said goodbye to my aunt resently I told her that I loved her. And even if the sentence says "being told is not the same as knowing" I'm sure that telling her was important and the right thing to do. So maybe this should be something to think about for all of us in the time we're entering now at Christmas. It is a time that we spend together with family and friends, and it is a good time to let the people around us know that we love them and appreciate them. Both tell them and let them know through your actions!
