THINK TALK: ‘When You Know Better, You Do Better’

MATALAM, North Cotabato – (MindaNews / 6 Sep) – I first heard this cliché “when you know better, you do better” on American television “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” It was hosted by the highly empowered woman, few of her kind, Ms. Oprah Winfrey, from whom the show derived its name. It was a very popular and one of the longest running talk show on television. It went on air for 25 years from September 1986 to May 2011.
 
I thought, all along, that this sort of life-changing cliché was originally Oprah Winfrey’s until I learned that Ms. Winfrey borrowed this powerful phrase from her friend and mentor, the powerful lesson author Maya Angelou.
 
When you know better (the more knowledgeable you become), you do better (you are in a position to do better, act better, or make better decisions). This makes seeking knowledge of vital import to every individual.
 
The problem with most people has been the fallacy of thinking that after school there is no more need to invest in knowledge. No. This is utterly wrong; in fact, a bad attitude, so-to-speak. And more so when you belong to the so-called “professional sector” or the learned ones. More often, folks and ordinary people seek your opinion on certain issues and concerns, whatever that is. When you do share an opinion, make sure you give that which is called “educated opinion” which you can do when you are more knowledgeable than the people around you.
 
I have been into writing for the past three decades, or since I was in college, though I have never become the professional writer that I wanted to be (or at least I have that wistful thinking that I am). I envy writers like Rigoberto Tiglao, Sec. Jesus Dureza, former Congressman Michael Mastura, Karl M. Gaspar, CSSR, a Redemptorist Brother and fellow columnist at www.mindanews.com, and scores of others.
 
A writer’s mission is, no less, to impart knowledge and at the same time enjoy what he is doing. We feel fulfilled by the slightest acknowledgement of an iota of wisdom in every piece we make and enjoy being flattered, whatever that means.
 
Just recently, I made a bold decision to venture into book writing. For the past three decades that I had been into writing, not once did it occur to me that I can compile my writings/stories into a book until, by stroke of fate, I enrolled into an online seminar-workshop on “How to Write a Book Even If You are not a Writer” on July 6, 2022. This was designed by Ms. Sha Nacino, a former bank employee. After realizing that her meager income from employment with the bank was not enough for all that she needs and wanted to do, she quit her job and challenged herself into book writing. To cut the long story short, she has authored 15 books to date, all of them are among the top sellers.
 
I had been writing through the printed media, and lately, through the online platform. Most of my writings are stored in my personal blog https://ift.tt/w2H5knY. While the cyberspace is a good repository of literary works as they can be accessed by the writer anytime, anywhere, the idea of sharing it with people so that they gain knowledge somehow, is very limited in terms of circulation. They are only accessible to those who browse the internet and only when they are connected to you one way or another. This made me try to expand the horizon of readers by writing a book; something that one can get hold off and dispose to the cabinet anytime.
 
The title of the book is “Family Affair.” As the name suggests, the book is all about written testimonies involving the circumstances and environment by which the family (my family, although any Filipino family can easily relate with it) tries to assert its presence and essence to find its rightful place and chart its destiny along the journey called LIFE. The way that family endured the trials and hurdled the obstacles and eventually found itself on the side of success is what you will appreciate and remember most.
 
If there is such thing as a family autobiography, then, this is it. But, I tried as much as possible to avoid a monologue. It is a monologue if we have a straightforward autobiography that simply chronicles the events and episodes in a person’s life in chronological order. Nothing else. This one is different. There are autonomous stories with the long story of the family autobiography. In fact, the reader may start anywhere and not get lost. In a straightforward autobiography you have to continue reading from where you stop, otherwise, you get lost.
 
Another thing in the book is, I included some romance and love stories because the spice of life is never complete without it. Even the “Titanic,” which was supposed to be a story of tragedy, was romanticized.
 
In my previous article (also published here with MindaNews), I wrote about success being a matter of making the right choice at the right time. I hope that in this case (of book writing) I made the right choice at the right time.
 
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Maugan P. Mosaid holds a doctorate degree in rural development. He is a freelance writer, planning consultant, and teaches Statistics and Methods of Research in the graduate school. He can be contacted at mauganmosaid6@gmail.com.)