The real, good, and true “things” of life are always constant.  That is to say that whatever is good, honest, and true as relates to human beings one day in the past, will remain just as true today and on into the future.  Truth is truth.  It is unchangeable and unarguable,…no matter who or what questions it.

Throughout recorded history, mankind has exercised its God-given talent and ability by recording through the medium of the written word the people, places, things, and events that have impacted and influenced all generations.  Such recorded truths and events form the basis of man’s knowledge about those events and people.  These documented facts lay available for all future unborn generations.  For those individuals who actually desire to know, these truths provide a reference point of knowledge and information to which they could refer and discover for themselves just what and how different people, activities, and events occurred that impacted the lives of those living at the time of the event, and those still living today.  

The instrument in which such historical writings were recorded came to be called Books.  Initially these documents consisted of hand written words and facts on parchment paper which were then bound together with some sort of hard back type material so as to protect the parchment pages from harm or damage.  As writing skills improved and expanded, the quality of the produced books became better and more usable.

Learning, knowledge, and wisdom was gained by the reader from his  reading of these books.  They became the primary source used to teach current and future generations about the history and truths of life from the experience of the past.

There was just something “special” about the experience of a human being picking up a book, holding it in his hands, thumbing through the pages, and quietly reading its content.  And therefrom learning more about life, people, places, and events that had occurred long before the reader was alive.

All of the really great leaders of history shared a thirst for and a desire to know what had really happened to earlier generations.  Such knowledge and understanding came to most of these leaders through the books they read and what they had been taught by the most well read and well educated men and women of their earlier generations.

Obviously, much has changed since the beginnings of the book publishing industry.  Published books have come to be much more technologically advanced and well produced.  The information contained in the professionally printed and bound books and other written works greatly surpasses the original works in both quality and content.  The vast reservoir of knowledge and wisdom as learned from the experience of those people who have gone before us, now lays available to any and all who desire to know it.

But one thing is for certain, good books still remain a most wonderful means of learning and educating oneself.  Of raising oneself and his own level of knowledge and understanding to a higher level,…of gaining greater knowledge and wisdom.

As technology advanced, so did methods and platforms of presentation.  Major libraries could now be reduced, via a computer chip and the storage capacity of a hard drive, from a building or large room within a building to a small computer or other hand held device.  One could “go-to-the-library” without leaving the comfort or privacy of his own home.  The hand held bound book per se began becoming a thing of the past,…a historical method of presentation.

Fast forward to today’s society and it can be readily witnessed that most educated people are now communicating (and learning from) a hand held cell phone.  The holding of a bound book seems almost archaic.  Be that as it may, there is still something very special about holding a book in one’s hands, sitting in a comfortable chair or at a desk and turning the pages using one’s fingers,…as knowledge and understanding is poured into a person’s brain from the mental exercise of reading.

Convenience and miniature storage areas, in my personal opinion, do not overshadow the blessings of holding and reading a good book.

Now let’s look at what is in the individual books, no matter their format or method of presentation.  A person can learn almost everything that is important for them to know about the living of their own life and the creative productivity that is theirs for the asking from reading good and valuable books.  Great wisdom is provided to the reader though the publication of good books.  All one has to do to gain that knowledge and understanding is read it and study it and communicate with other people about its content.  Such gained knowledge can then be multiplied in value by the reader through his application of what he has learned.  It is the gained knowledge and wisdom, supported by the practical application of it,…that gives the reader/student his experienced understanding and personal confidence enabling him to use what he has learned.

Knowledge and understanding comes first from the personal reading of such good books.  Only after such knowledge is gained can it be subsequently applied to and for the benefit of the reader.

Nowhere is this truth more applicable than in the realm of learning about oneself.  A person must truly know oneself before he or she can grow themselves.  Personal growth is a prerequisite to all overall growth, achievement, and creativity.  

Personal growth is gained and accomplished in the same manner and way today as it was in the ancient days of history.  Personal and mental growth was initiated in the Garden of Eden by the first two created human beings on this earth, Adam and Eve.  They learned the self same way as do you and I today.  There is an old saying that speaks volumes of truth to the understanding human being.  It goes like this: You cannot use or give away that which you do not know or possess.  So it becomes rather obvious that this learned knowledge and wisdom comes first,…before it can add value to the individual through its application.

When a person learns more about how his own brain and body work, about how best to deal with other people, and about how to establish and develop his own potential productive creativity, capacity, and people skills…only then will he or she be thoroughly ensconced onto his own road to success and happiness.

Sure,…I know,…for some of you readers and listeners,…books may be cumbersome, need to be held in order to be read, are not as “cool” as a new I pad or an I phone,…but…I assure you that they are the most valuable tool you may use to learn more about yourself from the knowledge, wisdom, and experience of other people who have preceded you in your personal quest for success.  

I personally believe that holding a book while reading it, and understanding the information contained therein, has an added catalyst of securing or cementing its content into the reader’s own mind.  Only after a book’s recorded information has been input into the reader’s mind can it ever be used, applied, or given away to another human being.

To know oneself enables one to grow oneself.

Growth is Happiness.

Happiness is Success.

Peace and Love to All of You………………Poppa Bear