Loss. Love. Learning.

Loss is central to the human experience in three waysFirst is we often lose in our attempts to succeed We lose promotions jobs and opportunities We lose money and valuable assetsMany times we also winSome people win a little and others win a lotBut we all loseBut these losses however daunting and disappointing are not the big onesThe second set of losses are the losses we will face of loved ones and friends either because relationships end or death comesAnd our final loss is that of ourselvesOur healthAnd then our livesFranz Kafka wrote that amp8220the meaning of life is that it endsamp8221How we live amidst these losses defines a large part of lifeThe joy we make is because time is precious and this moment of victory may not last foreverGiven that loss is part of human existence it pays to be kind and to think about how to help those in loss and deal with and recover from lossTo learn to practice amp8220personal resurrectionsamp8221 after setbacks and to endure and keep on growing and goingLoveA big part of what makes life worth living despite the guarantee of loss is loveLove of people of work of art of culture of craft and of things and hobbiesIt is in fact this love and attachment that is deeply intertwined with the feelings of lossThe Buddha said to avoid suffering one should avoid attachmentAttachment is programmed into our DNA so as a way of living and an ideal or a guiding path this is all well and good but is hard to live this wayLove does not compute and computers though they are getting increasingly advanced into deluding us that they love us since they ingest all our stories and then customize their reaction to be our amp8220personalizedamp8221 friends cannot love usIn part that is because they cannot feelAnd therefore cannot feel lossAnd with love comes loss and love is an antidote to lossAlso though we individuals care about ourselves and what is ours it is the love of something bigger greater and outside us that often matters moreThus the human search for purpose identity meaning and beliefLearningToday we have large language models that learn by ingesting sorting parsing corelating recombining and digesting all they can eatIt is clearly a form of learning and the machines are getting amp8220smarteramp8221Thus while machines may not know about love and loss they definitely can learnBut do they feel joy as they learnWithout the reality of loss or the feeling of love can they turn information into insight into wisdomLearning is particularly joyousLearning in its first form is building knowledgeWith great knowledge and practice we build skills and craftsmanshipHuman progress has been driven by learning and passing on the learning to those who followWe architect hone and sculpt our lives into forms that fit and resonateLearning is also seeing things from other perspectives which gives us understandingSometimes if we are lucky we can graduate from knowledge skills and understanding to wisdomLove loss and learning are intertwined with each one feeding and influencing and resonating with each otherLife is about love loss and learning and how we live our life is deeply affected by how we incorporate and then unify balance and integrate them into our livesPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Loss. Love. Learning.

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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Loss. Love. Learning.

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