There will be times my friends when things seem impossible. When you can’t understand why everything goes wrong and the world seems to on top of you when you were on top of the world yesterday. I remember many times when nothing seemed to be going the way I wanted it to go. Rather than saying that the odds were not in my favor, it seemed as if I was at odds with favor. All I wanted to do during those times was give up and stay in bed, under my bed – heck I expected the bed to collapse on me if I were under it.
But here’s what I discovered: I not only survived, I made it through and with the right thinking, the correct attitude, I learned and grew from those tough and trying times. In fact, what I gained after those times was wisdom. There is a saying that knowledge is what you know while wisdom is what you act upon. Another interesting axiom states that knowledge is in you head while wisdom is in your heart. But I earnestly believe that wisdom resides within everyone one of us in some form or another. The hardest thing to realize at times is when we should act upon what we know.
When I was growing up, I would at times get a spanking for misbehaving. Now some of you reading this know that the spankings could be quick or they can be drawn out. The impulsive side of me wanted to fight and argue about the punishment. But the wiser part of me knew to be quiet and things got over with more quickly. See wisdom can save us sometimes.
I feel that we don’t always give ourselves sufficient credit for what we know and as a result, we don’t act on it enough. Has there been a time when your uncertainty regarding your knowledge caused you to pause, stutter or not act? What do you remember happening as a result? Was the results of your uncertainty affected you and/or someone else? Was the result of your uncertainty more meaningful or painful because of its effect on you or the other people involved.
Wisdom is a gift that is earned and nurtured over time. It’s inside of you, it can drive you and most importantly, it can define you. And that definition of you can come not from the fact that you claim to be wise or others say that about you but because you act upon what you know. You act wisely.
Your life is a gift my friend. Share it wisely and generously.