what I tell you know is from the heart The first eighteen years of my life were relatively smooth sailing. I had a loving home. My needs and wants were provided for. I enjoyed above average successes and happiness of life. I was well-adjusted and likable. The last twenty years have been different, and difficult however. I’ve had to leaving home, going to college, financial independence, choosing my life’s work, the deaths of loved ones, loneliness, marriage, dealing with the addictions and depressions of people close to me, having children, & struggle for them etc.What challenges have you had to cope with? What would your list look like? What have you relied on? What has been your guide? And has it been working for you? Job asked, “Where can wisdom be found?” Can we wear a “wisdom patch” behind our ear? Hang out with wise people? Read enough books? What is wisdom and where does it come from? Is it from having a formal education? Are you automatically granted wisdom if youre a teacher? A doctor? A parent? Or does wisdom come with age? When it comes to wisdom, where do you think you rate? If you were to ask me that question,I would say I often feel pretty dumb. May be its because I hang around with a lot of people who I perceive to be incredibly intelligent.You know, because they attended a highly esteemed college or university. And they tend to be heavy thinkers and throw lots of big words into an otherwise simple conversation. My husband is one of those types. He has a nearly photographic memory, reads a lot, watches everything going on in the world, and can talk intelligently to anyone on any subject. The two things that really light him up - politics and religion. Hes my own personal Encyclopedia Britannica. And I love him exactly the way he is. As for me, Iwas just an average girl who struggled to get through school, was lucky to graduate, got marriage,then completed Master, had job, made a lot of stupid choices along the way, and finally turned it all around in my late twenties when I entered the working world . As a result, Ive always felt very inadequate compared to those around me. My professional Friends ( who are Doctors & PHDs) have even commented on my lack of education, certainly not realizing that its a sensitive subject for me. I cant tell you how many times Ive told my husband I want to get more education like my professional friends, so I wont feel so stupid. Then I remember why I love my super smart man so much. His response is always to remind me that whenever we discuss a problem together, I offer him some of the wisest counsel hes ever received. He values my opinion because Im able to simplify the issue. I dont over-analyze every little detail, a quality my very analytical husband finds refreshing. Being book smart means a person is intelligent in a specific field or subject matter, it does not make them wise, he tells me. So what does make a person wise? Where does it come from? I think there are so many characteristics that take us beyond being smart to being wise. Many wish to be wise. Yet there are wrong concepts of what wisdom is. Often, one would consider a genius wise. Yet having a vast amount of knowledge is not wisdom. Others believe that those who understand knowledge are wise. This is not the case. Just what is wisdom? Is it different from knowledge and understanding? Id say its knowing what to do in a lot of situations. Im not trying to make a deep point here about the true nature of wisdom, just to figure out how we use the word. A wise person is someone who usually knows the right thing to do. Wisdom is only a distant relative of cleverness. Experience is not a reliable teacher of wisdom. Instead, it may deepen us in our folly. Wisdom cannot really be imparted by one person to another. Intellectual beliefs do not make us wise; only felt beliefs reliably shape our behavior. Wisdom is a deeper level of integration of truth than are knowledge or understanding. Wisdom is not something thought but something lived. To be wise is to live intelligently. While society might be seen as becoming wiser during the course of history, it is far from clear that this is also true of the individuals that comprise it. As for how we acquire wisdom, this is an open question.You are the only one that can gain wisdom for yourself. No one can make you wise or make you not wise. Its up to you. Any time you see, hear, or experience a lesson for better living, its up to you to do something about it. The job of living is to make this decision. Put what you have learned into practice or you will never be wise. A philosopher by definition, is a lover of wisdom. We all should be philosophers. You can talk beautiful ideas, but if you dont put it into action, it is as if you know nothing. Ask yourself, what did I learn today? How would I do it differently? and How do I transfer this lesson to my own life? Then, apply it. You then begin to live intelligently. To live with understanding. To live with meaning. To live with wisdom. So, the relationship between self and wisdom is unbreakable, as wisdom comes from definite understanding and perceiving of self; it depends solely on the person and not on some external factors.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 23:53:39 +0000
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