Wisdom comes from all places

CEBU, Philippines - Like the television, for example. As part of the growth I want to experience constantly and consistently in myself from now on, I have decided to pay more attention to the nuggets of wisdom life throws my way. After all, I get them — or, better yet, they speak to me — for some good reason, so I might as well give them the attention they deserve and pick up the lesson fast.

And, because I haven’t been reading as much as I would love to, the television and the Internet are currently my main sources of these valuable nuggets. Of course, the shows and websites I enjoy are made by people, so, I’m still technically drawing from human experience even as these nuggets come to me through, well, electronics.

On Arrogance And Insecurity

I’ve been getting a lot of nice messages that hit the bullseye, too. A couple of days ago, for example, I was watching a replay of the first season of Master Chef US. It was the audition episode, where lots of chef-wannabes from all over America tried to get in the show by serving their best dishes for the three judges — master chefs Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot — to try and critique.

One contestant, David Miller, a software engineer from Boston, came on two strong and too pretentious. For his audition, he cooked bouillabaisse. He also used an exaggerated French accent to pronounce French words, like Provence and, well, bouillabaisse. Chef Gordon Ramsay promptly put him in his place, saying, “When you’re good at something, it creates confidence. When you’re insecure about something it creates an arrogance.” He then said that David was just plain arrogance.

Lucky David, though, because the two other judges decided to give him a chance. Smart move for the show, too, because what’s a reality show without someone audiences would love to hate? Incidentally, David made it all the way to top two! I’m sure he learned his lesson fast!

What Gordon said reminded me of the difficult people I dealt with in 2010. Some of them were pretty arrogant, despite not really displaying any competence yet. I’ll probably encounter a lot more arrogant people, but I resolve to deal with them with more compassion from now on.

It’s not easy to be insecure; I’ve been battling my own bouts with insecurity too.

On How True Love Trumps A Bad Past

Also, I didn’t expect to get this particular nugget of wisdom from Bones, but I did! And from the mouth of Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan, too! In that particular episode, Special Agent Seeley Booth’s brother had a new girlfriend and Booth ran a check on her. He found out that she used to be an escort, and he told his brother. Of course the brother was pissed off that he had run a check on the girl, and Booth, who was only doing what he though a caring brother should be doing, was equally miffed. It was Bones who raised the question: Does it matter?

And then this exchange:

Bones: You told me that my father’s criminal past didn’t matter. That the love between us was real. And that’s all that mattered. Because I believed you, my father and I have relationship today.

Booth: Okay, I’m glad I could help out.

Bones: I’m anxious because I can’t see any meaningful difference between my father and your brother’s girlfriend. Can you explain that to me? It’s a question of logic, so I’m just going to be quiet while you work your way through.

All that matters, really, is love! Even to the most logical, non-emotional, cerebral of us.

Email your comments to [email protected] . You can also visit my personal blog at http://althearicardo.blogspot.com. You can text your comments again to (63)917-9164421.