Blog Post #2

Right away, within the second section of the reading, I picked up on a very valuable life lesson - to listen to elders. The parable described a scene of a young, American-raised daughter and a Chinese-speaking mother. The daughter was determined to ride her bicycle around, but her mother warned her of the dangers that could befall upon her when she is away from the protection of her home. Because of innate human qualities such as greed, arrogance, and strong-mindedness, the daughter wanted to prove her mother wrong. She sped off on the bicycle and immediately fell before she even reached the corner. This scene shows the importance of human experience and the stubbornness of humans. Instead of listening to another's lessons, one usually always chooses to execute their thoughts. Once someone has their mind on something, it is often times hard to persuade them that they are making the wrong decision. This just goes to show that humans, although very trustworthy, are not very trusting until they make a mistake. Many people have advised me to make different choices because they could forsee the outcome. Me, being the stubborn person that I am, wanted to prove them wrong. Instead of proving them wrong, however, I proved their point. But if I hadn't made that mistake, I would never truly learn. Even though it is good to listen to elders and adhere to someone else's experiences, it is also good to make experiences of one's own.