Smart Or Wise? - Grasshopper

I know a lot of smart people. I used to think I was one of them. Then a friend asked me, “If you’re so damn smart, why aren’t you rich?” I’m not sure the two are equated because I know some dumb, rich people too. But whether we’re smart or dumb, we are truly impoverished if we don’t explore our wisdom.

Smarts will only take you so far until you run into a situation that smart can’t handle. That’s when you need wisdom.

 

Sometimes wisdom is derived from experience, but most times it comes from out of the blue. It just arrives without copious amounts of thinking.

 

Wisdom requires three things:

1.     Trust

2.     Patience

3.     The Secret Ingredient

 

It’s important to hold the belief that there is an answer. That’s trust. It’s just as important to be willing to wait for an answer to work its way past our abundant thinking. That’s patience. And the secret ingredient is next: Quiet!

 

You will never think your way to an elusive answer no matter how smart you are. Wisdom appears in the absence of thought. We’ve all had the experience of “thinking things through” and being in a mental stew. It’s not until we let the internal argument go, that we made room for an answer to grow.

 

Mental quieting will inform your wisdom. It’s a habit that needs to be nurtured. The popular, TV, orange juice ad didn’t say this but it could have: “A day without quiet is a day without wisdom.”

 

You truly have access to wisdom. Just trust, be patient, and be quiet. It’s the smart move.

 

All the best,

John