WOW! Words of Wisdom

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

~John Robert Wooden, an American basketball player and coach.

Literally, wow may be an exclamation of wonder, a surprise, or even pleasure, and rarely, pain. However, I have taken it to mean “words of wisdom” because it is the exclamation I use when humans surprise me by occasionally pronouncing words of wisdom: making me wonder with surprise and pleasure; and realise that wisdom, lies in unexpected quarters. It only goes to prove the fact that no one person can ever claim to be the suppository of all wisdom.

However, most times I wonder with pain, at the human folly of preferring wealth above wisdom. Thus, it is my experience in life that we humans are fully capable of uttering words of wisdom, but not adhering to them. This, I suppose is, due to the fact that such words do not flow from the power of true and right discernment, but from the intuitive instinct humans possess. Simply put, if words spoken are the result of the wisdom of the speaker; there would follow conformity to the course of action dictated by such discernment, which is not the case with most humans.

Wisdom means having good practical judgment, common sense; or a high degree of knowledge and learning that helps man to be wise. Yet, man turns it into a mere wise saying; the true meaning of which, he himself grasps not. Enlightenment, erudition, information, knowledge, learning, and skills can all be, acquired as by study or practice.

Insight, judgment, profundity, or depth, reason, sagacity, sense, understanding, are native qualities of the mind; but are capable of increase by cultivation. Wisdom, on the other hand, is mental power acting upon the materials that fullest knowledge gives in the most effective way.

There may be what is termed “practical wisdom” that looks only to material results; but in its full sense, wisdom implies the highest exercise of all the faculties. Very few are the people who possess wisdom and, even if they do, do not possess the courage of wisdom to abide by it. To do so, one requires a mind without fear.

As it seems to happen very often in modern times; in the making of, or in doing something, and in fact many things, that turn out to be mostly, perfectly useless; there may be great skill, but no wisdom. It makes one wonder to what purpose such skills are applied.

Is this because of judgment - that power of forming decisions - is more limited in such people by reason of they being less exalted in character to possess wisdom: or, is it because they possess not respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility for their actions, which are the first steps to acquisition of wisdom.

I believe it is neither, and actions that carry no benefit to others are, dictated to by nothing else but one’s greed that places wealth above wisdom. Sad though it is, man has set the value of wealth above that of wisdom and in its pursuit, has lost his ability to gain wisdom.

Humans cannot create matter. Nevertheless, we can create value.

Creating value is in fact, our very humanity. When we praise people for their strength of character, we are actually acknowledging their ability to create value. However, when values are misplaced, man becomes less worthy. It is a fact that different things delight different people; but the mind of a superior man is concerned with, and therefore is conversant with wisdom; while that of a lesser man is interested in, and therefore seeks, only wealth.

For such people, wealth denotes superiority. They realise not that the true way to gain much is never to desire to gain too much. He is not rich that possess much, but he that covets no more.

He is not poor that enjoys little, but he that wants too much.

“We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly” - Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. It seems that such beliefs are no more accepted, and we live in a different world - the modern world. What Aristotle said may have applied to the period 384 BC to 322 BC when he lived.

Today we find the world seems propelled by self-interest, and all actions are determined by that alone. Benevolence is neither enticed nor a part of current values. Pay the price and get the value seems to be the modern motto. Thus, we seek not wisdom to act with wisdom. We fear that if we acted with wisdom, it might gratify half of humanity and astound the other half, but not benefit us.

The result: we do not keep our thinking simple; our conflicts, fair and generous; our work becomes not enjoyable; our family life, not completely honest. We do not know even the difference between instinct and habit and therefore fail to trust and follow our instincts, nor question our habits.

Thus, we lead life, unlike the fool who knows he is a fool and for that very reason wise; but more like the fool who thinks himself wise and become the greatest of fools.

All men and women are born, live, suffer, and die. What distinguishes us, one from another, is our dreams, and the values we apply to realise the dreams. Be they dreams about worldly or unworldly things, what we do to make them come about, is what determines our wisdom.

Adopting values that are meaningful, challenging, inspiring, and stimulating - values that can be emulated - will sheds light into our lives, help keep perspective, inspire, motivate, and energise. As we age in life, we realise that the most cherished value in a human being is good heartedness.

Life today is such that, in the name of courtesy we utter good words, that come not from the heart, without realising that it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Milan Kundera in his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being said “When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.” People do not always get the heart they want but end up with the one they develop. Hence, like all habits, good heartedness is a habit that can be, developed if one is willing.

But beware, for good heartedness in today’s world can also lead to experiencing a lot of pain and misery. Nevertheless, it is also true that, the pain of all our experience is what makes us the person we are now. Without our experience, we are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric.

What makes us brave is our willingness to live through our terrible life and hold our head up high the next day, not losing our good heartedness. So do not live life in fear and lose your quality of, being kind and well meaning due to all the pain you suffered being good.

The fact is, all that pain had made you and molded you into a much stronger personality now, than you ever were back before it started.

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities. For views, reviews, encomiums, and brickbats: [email protected]