Bertrand Russell, Portraits From Memory and
Other Essays. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1956, p. 177.
It is common knowledge that with every technological advance we run into new problems (and old ones, see Rule #34). These problems can sometimes be foreseen, such as ethical dilemmas of automated vehicles. Sometimes the problems come by surprise, such as was the case with bloodletting. It is a result of a common human trait - overreaching.
And that applies to any advances is knowledge as well. As we grow older, we gain experience, we find ourselves in new places with new people, and in all of that we learn. The more we learn, the more we yearn for more. And the more we know, the more we can do about it.
What happened last year can stay there. Stuff happened, stuff that was unexpected, stuff that may have seemed unfair. But from those events and from the people involved we have learned. We have learned a bit about our fellow men, about how things work, about what surprising consequences can await some of our actions, and we've learned a bit about ourselves. To acknowledge that is to move on and look towards the future.
Now is a good time to look forwards. The year has just begun, and as far as arbitrary recurring variable-sized amounts of time go, a year is as good a time period as any. We are now smarter, wiser, and inherently older. That allows for better planning. A change of life style is in order, perhaps? Or a change in the field or place of study? A new BF/GF/BFF? A new entertaining group activity puzzle game to be found and mastered? Or should one go back to the classics, seek out old friends and flames or areas of expertise? The question that goes before any planning remains the same: what is the best course of action for you personally?
After all, what is good for you doesn't have to be bad for others. But, as Russell might agree, having more knowledge increases the possible ways of increasing gains, good and evil. But it is only up to our knowledge and sense of morality that define and predict the 'evilness' of an action. And that gets easier as time goes by.
I, personally, have found myself on a road I started years ago. And that road is now winding to lead me in a direction I had not anticipated when I started walking. I'm not precisely happy about it, nor sad. I accept and embrace the change and hope that the path you, the reader, are on is as acceptable.
Fate has a funny way of working, it rarely takes you where you want to go, but somehow you keep ending up where you need to be.
