I used to imagine that wisdom was something that came from ancient, gray-haired women sitting in old houses. Their cache of secrets passed down from other ancient gray-haired women.
Wisdom seemed to be something sacred and only for those who earned some special right to claim it.
I see wisdom differently now.
Wisdom comes from the experience of being human. The good news is that we all have access to it.
The experience of being human is often a rough road and full of hard-won reality checks. “Human-ing is really hard,” as my dear friend Brice says.
Wisdom is a combination of personal experience mixed with good intentions. Experience that does not include goodwill is not wisdom. Its just knowledge that is not being used for any great or worthy purpose.
I want to talk about wisdom, not knowledge.
When we have experiences, especially challenging or negative experiences, it is human nature to want to get past them and move on. It is often difficult to think about or revisit these experiences because of the pain, the shame, the embarrassment or just the discomfort that they can bring up. This makes it very hard to recognize any nuggets of wisdom.
I like to sit quietly with the intention of being a curious observer.
I ask myself questions like:
✨ Is there anything I can learn from this situation?
✨ Can I find a different perspective?
✨ Is there any where that I did not take responsibility for my part? If so, which part?
✨ Could I have responded differently? If so, how?
✨ If I had to take something away from this, what would it be?
Take another look at one of those uncomfortable experiences to see if any bits of wisdom pop up. You never know what you might uncover.
Time is an important component because it allows for greater perspective, which in turn, makes space for the wisdom we are seeking.
Some pieces of wisdom are valuable enough to be passed on to others so they might learn or benefit from our experience. Other times, wisdom is best kept to ourself until its value is apparent.
Knowing when and where to offer wisdom is part of wisdom itself.
Sharing wisdom requires a dose of discretion, and I find that asking if my input is welcome is key. You get the drift.
Wisdom is one of the tools that lives within us in our Golden Tool Bag.
These tools are the key to our human goodwill and make us capable of being glorious beings. They’re always at the ready. All we have to do is consciously choose to pull our tools out of our Golden Tool Bag and use them.
Wisdom is one of the tools that lives within us in our Golden Tool Bag.
These tools are the key to our human goodwill and make us capable of being glorious beings. They’re always at the ready. All we have to do is consciously choose to pull our tools out of our Golden Tool Bag and use them.
Be glorious! ✨
P.S. How do you embrace your gloriousness? Find out in my book, Unapologetically Glorious.