Health and Harmony | Information is Power
The information highway, the internet, has been our means of travel to vast storehouses of information for decades now. The plethora of sources that exist to plumb the depths of any subject one desires to explore is a wonder to behold. The caveat all students are given is to beware of the source. Not all websites have reliable or evidence-based data. Wikipedia, for example, is not considered acceptable as a footnote in research papers as anyone can contribute comments and these are not necessarily factual. Certainly, in many instances, they are biased.
Caveat Emptor, buyer beware, can surely apply to the world of information. Informing oneself on a subject implies that you have credible sources, cross check your references and fact check your informants. Then, when you feel confident that you have accumulated the best data available on a subject, you can articulate your position with power.
Information is used as power when one is attempting to persuade another to accept their theory, opinion or position on a subject matter. Information is used as power when it is given to a person to use in media, print or otherwise. Information is power when it needs to be regurgitated on a test and your grade reflects your understanding of that information and so dictates your accomplished passage through the course.
Information must be intermingled with intuition to become powerful. The process is essential to understanding, which is the corollary to learning. Intuition is our gift of inner knowing. The bell that rings true. The resonance with truth that one feels and knows and owns as their own. Information is power when it is infused with intuition.
Right action based on information and the decisions that emanate from that is the power base from which you create your life. Once you begin to operate on this level, using this format and these tools of conscious awareness, the information that you disseminate will be powerful. Your voice will be heard as credible. The invitation is then open for others to share their viewpoint, to disagree with yours, to develop another one that flows from the dialogue. This is how intelligent, dynamic, informed discussions lead to theories, practical solutions, problem solving and the creation of public policy.
This is also how relationships are formed, social networks are built, companies are born and new ideas and innovations are spawned.
Be an individual at all costs. Information is power when you own the rights to it because it flows from within you. Hard won, forged with the heat of due diligence, controversy and challenges. In this way, no man can ever take it away from you. Information is powerful when it is malleable like hot steel. It can be transformed, can change states, can be set in stone. These are the qualities of information that make it so powerful. So magical. So compelling. These are the qualities that you look for and sense in another who is disseminating their information to you. You will know it when it resonates with you. When it does not ring true, search for the truth behind those words. You know the path to tread. You know where the treasure is hidden. You know you simply have to start digging to find it!
May The Blessings Be!