Wisdom Comes From Many Places

There is a strong truth in the fact that as we live life, we will certainly learn many things along the way. We live in a society where getting older is frowned upon and youth is what is more desirable. But in my studies of ancient cultures and many cultures today, it is actually age that is of greater value because the idea is that age produces wisdom. And while we certainly can learn much from older people, what I propose is that we should be able to learn from anyone.

I truly believe that we can obtain wisdom from virtually anyone. Whether younger or older, male or female, wealthy or non-wealthy, educated or non-educated, Christian or non-Christian, parent or child, etc. The question is do we allow ourselves to be open to the wealth of wisdom that exists in the world? How many of us cut off a lot of our access to wisdom because of a person's age, gender, religious affiliation, lifestyle, political views or a host of others things we allow to get in the way? How many older people would be blessed to receive some of the wisdom that many of our youth have been gifted with and vice versa? How many Republicans might gain a better perspective of our society if they took the time to consider some of the things Democrats are proposing and vice versa?

In my opinion, to be a great learner in this world, it takes the ability to be humble and to listen. Humility strips down our pride and allows us to be in a place where we don't know everything and we still have a capacity to learn. Learning to listen allows us to engage in dialogue, which promotes the best way of learning, rather than people simply trying to dominate conversations by being the one to speak the longest. I admit that it is hard for me to be humble in this way because by nature I don't like being told what to do or made to feel like I don't know what's best. But when I take a deep breath and am willing to listen, I gain incredible insights that I've never considered and even if I don't ultimately agree with what the person is saying, I still know I've gained much more understanding as a result of such a conversation. It's made a significantly positive difference in my life to be humble and to listen.

If you believe that because you place someone in a certain classification that they have no wisdom to offer, I ask that you reconsider your perspective. I can't tell you how many times I've seen older people completely dismissed younger people because of the notion that younger people are too young to know anything. And while older people have an advantage in terms of how long they've been alive, they can sometimes lack even more maturity than a younger person. Older people certainly can be a wealth of information but sometimes forget that younger people can have a knowledge that even they don't have because while older people see it, younger people are living it. How beautiful it is when the generations can come together! I have a friend whose mother owns her own business. When my friend grew up, he decided to become an entrepreneur himself. Though his mother raised him and was a great example to him as a entrepreneur, my friend has achieved so much that now his mother comes to him for advice. It can be a beautiful thing when we are open to wisdom not based on race, gender, religion, age, lifestyle, etc.

Now does this mean I am proposing that we simply accept everything and be open to everything? No. But what I do believe is that we shouldn't limit ourselves in the gaining of wisdom. While a Christian and Muslim are not going to agree on God and Jesus, perhaps a Christian can learn a great lesson from a Muslim, when he sees how lovingly the Muslim interacts with his family. Perhaps the Muslim can learn a great lesson in generosity from seeing how the Christian shares his earnings. Neither have to change their beliefs but they have hearts that are open to gaining wisdom that will better their lives.

I can remember when I was a substitute teacher in my early 20s and at one point, I went through a phase where I wore an earring in my left ear. One day while I was working on a high school campus, a girl came up to me and asked me point blank, "Why are you wearing that earring? I don't think it looks good on you." I remember going home that day with that still ringing in my head and it made me stop and think why I had this earring in my ear. As I thought about the silly reasoning behind the earring, at once I removed the earring from my ear and never looked back. Now had I looked at the girl is being young and knowing nothing, would I have gone home and reflected that day. Probably not. I was able to learn something from my encounter with her that day and it was during a time when a great change was taking place in my life.

So remember, don't disqualify the opportunity for wisdom because of the person who is sharing it with you. Instead, be humble enough to take what they are saying or showing you and see if it can better your life. We will know whether it is good or not. But if we have the attitude that "this type of person" can't teach us anything, we're going to miss out on a whole lot.

Something to think about,

LandoRigs