Getting old is not for sissies, or so we say around our house. Benjamin Franklin reminds us that we get old too soon and wise too late. I TOTALLY get that! Age is a state of mind until our bodies start failing us and things change beyond what diet and exercise can counteract. Wisdom is also a state of mind in that we have to engage our brains and experiences in order to utilize wisdom to it’s fullest advantages.
I spoke to a woman today who was taking a pottery class. She was in her late sixties (I’m guessing). She had always wanted to learn to turn clay on a wheel and was having a blast! She was covered in clay dust, which is how our conversation began. She noted that she wished she had started sooner, “the folly of youth…we think we have all the time in the world.” She smiled and walked on. I wad reminded of this won’t again…and wise too late!
Wisdom works best when we employ it sooner rather than later. When we apply the lessons we have learned, or have learned from the experiences of others, to make our own world better, smarter, faster, and more enriching. Wisdom often speaks in quiet tones reminding us of what we have learned somehow imploring us to put that knowledge into action. Too often we ignore that “voice” and do it our own way, destined to learn the lesson AGAIN and regret our own stubbornness in ignoring life’s hard earned knowledge. When we are REALLY stubborn wisdom shouts at us loud enough in our heads to get our attention, when we ignore it again stubborn has definitely turned into stupidity.
After I walked away from the woman taking pottery classes, I thought about all the things we put off because time does not allow it. We actually have all the time we want, we simply have to choose wisely and edit out the parts that don’t really matter. Spend time on the things that matter to us and edit away the things other people think we should be doing. Wisdom is knowing the difference. Today we need to employ our own wisdom before it is too late.
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