This uninterrupted thought followed today’s conversation: I have learned from a long line of teachers, students, and debates. As a result, all that I have accomplished, acquired, or imparted, has never been exclusively mine.
This blog compares abstract comments to the unassuming association with every day “paperclips.” Yes, unused “paperclips,” those untouched tools that are resting in a drawer most of the time, are akin to key aspects of our value system.
To begin, we develop from the influence and wisdom of people and life events. That material shapes the traditions that we practice and walk with us in this world.
Often, how we learn and the impacts in life create shifts in our thinking. Our views become different and without limits. These changes allow us to embrace individuals, equipped with masterful allegories, to answer questions about our purpose that we never considered.
Eastern philosophy and/or spiritual teachings state that to avoid personal mistakes, the karma associated with the direction of our life becomes obscured. By sidestepping personal issues, everything associated with our shortcomings is like an unused “paperclip.” To not fully acknowledge our faults is the failure to grow and evolve beyond the actions taken. The result? We continue to exist in a stagnant state, overloaded with the energy of our errors, much like a “paperclip” waiting to be used.
The analogy of the “paperclip” directly correlates to human problems. The purpose of a “paperclip” is to secure items together; to be functional. Yet, by ignoring a “paperclip” its potential is unrealized. By failing to accept our faults or acting upon them, we remain in a muddled existence, overloaded with unused energy from our errors, much like a “paperclip”. Modifications to life become suspended. Actual solutions to our internal conflicts become hindered and idle. We disable the chance to amend; therefore, preventing growth or adjustment to our karma. Mistakes then exist without serving a purpose. Life’s inaccuracies become the unfortunate norm.
Summarily, the acknowledgment of wrongdoing allows us to hold together and learn from our integrity, relationships and, most importantly, our misjudgments. All are bound like a purposeful “paperclip.” We then move forward and become better versions of ourselves.
Bud Megargee is a former senior behavioral healthcare executive; a Washington, DC., healthcare lobbyist; and an independently published, best-selling and award-winning author. He began writing after exploring Eastern philosophy and alternative medicine techniques in the professional treatment of emotional challenges at a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery.