What is “enough” wisdom?
I believe that enough is enough, even of good things like wisdom. That’s why I named this blog www.WisdomEnough.com
It gave me permission to start it. I didn’t dare wait until I was smart enough!
After all, we don’t need all wisdom or lots of wisdom, just enough wisdom!
Which is great to my way of thinking! After all, we keep learning new stuff, some of which we don’t know whether to call wisdom or not!
As youngsters we learned a number of lessons, many of which our parents and teachers did not teach us.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT YOU MAY HAVE LEARNED AS A YOUNG
STER:
- No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
- When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
- If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
GREAT TRUTHS YOU MAY HAVE LEARNED AS AN ADULT:
- Raising teenagers is like nailing Jello to a tree.
- Families are like fudge…mostly sweet with a few nuts.
- Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.
Thinking about raising my two youngsters as teens (and the image of nailing Jello to a tree!) reminds me of my favorite passages about raising youngsters from Kahlil Gibran in his book The Prophet. http://www.katsanddogz.com/onchildren.html
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday…
AND EVEN SOME GREAT TRUTHS TO BE LEARNED FROM GROWING OLD:
- Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
- It’s frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
- Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
Think of all the things you might never have done
if you waited until the perfect moment,
or until you knew all the steps it would take,
or until you felt you could guarantee your results.
Life is an adventure and part of the exhilaration of it is not knowing for sure if you’ll get to the destination you planned on.
Sometimes the detours are the best part.
Sometimes the “mistakes” are the greatest learning opportunities.
Sometimes you meet the most wonderful people by accident.
6 Comments
Sometimes peace and release come from realizing that you don’t have to forgive the unforgivable. This was a huge lesson that freed me from the guilt of not being able to forgive.
Carol, I think that as long as we are moving in the direction of peace, that we can forgive ourselves for not being yet able to forgive.
From my Grandfather Earl ( He was a quiet man but when he spoke to you, you listened and learned a lot ): What do you have when one argues with a fool ? ( Two fools arguing ). Its best to be more quiet and let the fool talk himself out, then go away.
Earl
Earl, sounds like you had a wise grandfather!
Many years ago I tackled the plan to emigrate to Ireland. This was a huge undertaking, requiring a job there, pet passports (yup, there are such things and many countries require them), and a willingness for an entire cultural and lifestyle change. While I never did actually emigrate, I learned an enormous amount about how international living works, and how I could make things happen. Those two years of expense, research, planning and work could be seen as a mistake or wasted, but they weren’t. I learned so much and am grateful.
The adventure of life took me in a different direction in the end. What a ride! And who knows what’s next?
Fay, when “they” say anticipation is half the fun of the journey, they were right regarding the Ireland Plan! I remember how organized you got, how many connections you made to get information, AND our second trip there to “check things out.”