Gaining Wisdom From Life’s Experiences
Do you collect nuggets of wisdom as you journey on your path? My friend was going through a complicated domestic issue and she boiled down her options to two. She asked me to give her what I’d assumed was my opinion. It turned out that she wanted more than my opinion. She wanted me to tell her exactly what to do, and she would do it. As I pondered on her words, I reached this conclusion; My friend did not have a personal pool of wisdom to pull from. She was a smart woman, and I admired her in so many ways, but on this matter, she had nothing to draw from. It appeared that in the years that she had been going through the situation, she did not collect and store relevant lessons. She did not gain wisdom from her experience, and consequently, there was no reservoir to draw from. When you go through life’s experiences, be sure to collect and save your lessons, just like you do your money. Some lessons are unique to you. There is wisdom that is specific for your own situation, and no one else can offer that to you but yourself. In the end, my words to her were words I’ve told myself when I find myself in a quandary; Sometimes of the two options, none is better. You simply choose which set of problems you’d rather deal with. Do you have a collection of lessons gained from your life’s experiences? Not Tony Robbins’ or Lisa Nichol’s skills, yours? You see, we are all uniquely created works of art. We walk our own individual path, and there are lessons and nuggets of wisdom that are for you alone. These are lessons you meet on your journey. Don’t memorise the occurrence and call it a lesson, instead draw the wisdom that’s tucked into the experience. Gather them as you journey. Tuck them in your back pocket. Not every disagreement should end with a word match. You can have the war of words, but what did you learn? What did you learn about yourself- your thought process, your tendencies, your likes or dislikes? Friends are a great resource but even your closest friend really is travelling on a different route. Life lessons are everywhere, but you have to be intentional about being a student. Next time you find yourself at the end of a rope, don’t be quick to phone a friend or ask the audience. Dig into your bag first to see if there is valuable information to utilize. Thoughts?
