Wisdom

I have come to accept that the road to wisdom is not to be quickly traveled.  Our current society does not support this old-fashioned viewpoint however, leading us instead to think, feel and believe that we are "entitled" to be given any damn thing we want, without the expense of working for it.

Crap...

I see the road to have three steps or phases.  These steps are mandatory, not to be avoided or bypassed.  The three steps are:

Knowledge

Effort

Wisdom
Knowledge is the first step.  You must amass knowledge on your subject of interest.  You may go to school, or take classes or seminars.  You read what others have written on the subject.

At some point, you might become so knowledgeable of the nuances and details of a subject that you might be considered an "expert".

By itself, this is not wisdom, but only a dry accumulation of facts.  Some of those "facts" will be completely bogus.  They will be repeated verbatim from teacher to student without challenge, be considered holy grail, beyond reproach.

And verily I say unto you:  They will be bullshit.
Effort is next.  A completely indispensable part of the process.  Your effort will look different from mine.  You cannot learn from my effort, you must travel the path yourself.  It is hard, unrelenting work. 

There it is.  Get over it.

For physical skill sets, the effort must be physical.  The old line about "Sweat, Blood & Tears" tells it all.  Without effort, you will never, repeat NEVER, determine which of those "facts" you have learned are accurate, which are bogus, and which are not relevant.

Relevancy is an important distinction.
Wisdom sometimes grows from the above.  Sometimes...

Sufficient knowledge of a subject, sufficient effort to filter the knowledge, sufficient experience to determine the order, priority and relevancy of those "facts", and you may achieve the perspective to be considered wise.

Accumulation of a knowledge base in one subject does not grant one the perspective to consider themselves experts in other fields.  However, one of the signs of the person who is stuck in the Knowledge phase, is the arrogance he or she will display when discussing things outside their subject.

Arrogance and an insistence that they know more about your business than you, is a sure fire sign that they are far from being wise.

Wisdom is apparent by the humble insistence that the individual knows nothing.  That he or she realizes that there is more to learn than they have already been exposed to.  They will have a reluctance to pass judgment, to think they know the one right way to do things.

And finally, my concept is that wisdom is not necessarily applicable to others.  In other words, when you have achieved a certain level of wisdom, you will know what YOU need to live YOUR life.  To make the decisions that bring you joy, love and compassion.  

"The fruit of these three is peace, as you know..."  Mother Teresa

If you think you can make the decisions for someone else, you aren't there yet.

At best, you will know that they have choices.  You will have the perspective of your experiences, and the experiences of others.  You might have suggestions, but you will understand, and accept, that the choices are theirs to make.

And you will allow them to make those decisions without interference.  

And you will bless them as they go...

Your Life, Your Choices, Your Consequences...

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