We're Never Too Old to Learn, Change or Seek Wisdom...

"Wisdom." According to Merriam-Webster, this word is a noun. So, we know that wisdom is a "thing." The definition of wisdom is as follows: 1 a: accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : knowledge b: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight c: good sense : judgment d: generally accepted belief 2: a wise attitude, belief, or course of action 3: the teachings of the ancient wise men.
Wayne and I met once again with a gentleman that I refer to of late, as a mentor. He is a business advisor, but to me, the meetings are so much more than that. He goes into the depths of "the business of life" and how to live a good one. I have considered since our meeting on Friday that life is a business. You can fail miserably at life or you can lead a very successful one.
And like business, you get one shot at it. If you begin a business and it is not nurtured and does not operate from a solid foundation, of course, the business will fail. The same goes for life.
We all walk around with a certain degree of knowledge of what our lives are about. I won't call it a fundamental knowledge of what our lives are about, because I believe it is too easy to fool even ourselves when things aren't on an even keel. We can convince ourselves of most anything...we've all done it. That's the easy part. Looking at facts and reality is the hard part.
In this meeting, I was taking notes. I'm a note taker from way back. I've been known to take notes about the notes I take!
I had referred to our mentor's discussion on simplicity in a previous post. He said, "Simplicity is the key to everything."
So, with this post, I want to share with you more quotes that impacted me greatly. I feel they are universal and will impact you as well. It is never too late to continue the discovery of your best life (or even begin discovering it!). In fact, there is never a time we should stop learning and discovering. When we stop learning, we become complacent. That's deadly in the business of "business" as well as the "business of life and living."
Speaking of complacency, this wonderfully astute, bespectacled, bow-tied gentleman offered these words as we sat down to begin our meeting. "Life is about change." Consider those three words. I mean REALLY consider them. How adaptable are we? As a rule, not very. We like our routines, we get bent out of shape when things don't go the way we expect them to and we just aren't so willing to conform to anything out of our own comfort zone. But, "life is about change." If you're not willing to accept that, I suppose the race is over right out of the gate.
We discussed a Swiss psychiatrist, whose works our friend has read extensively. Psychiatrist Paul Tournier said, "Fear creates its own fear." He also said, "Whatever we pay attention to grows." Again, I ask you to think about those two statements, both separately and how they directly relate to one another. When we are gripped with fear, then our focus is "fear." If what you pay attention to grows, then the focus on our fears grow and grow, flourishing negatives and paralyzing us in ways that "change" never has a chance be considered, much less attempted. Shouldn't we be paying attention to what we really want in life? Shouldn't we be taking honest looks at what we love, what we enjoy, what makes us feel great as human beings and pay full attention to those things so that we can grow? We think when we stay focused on our problems that it shows we are focusing on solutions. After our meeting on Friday, I had to consider that focusing on problems is PREVENTING me from looking beyond my problems to find solutions. Not good. Not good at all.
Our discussions led to what we "settle for." Our advisor responded simply, "Settling is not in the interest of justice and truth."
Therefore, if we do not seek our own truths and we do not seek justice from within, we cannot truly know who we are as individuals. It would appear to be an impossibility. There is no way to live your best life and compromise justice and truth at the same time. To live a compromised life is to lie to ones' self.
I will close in saying that there is a vast difference in being self-absorbed with a poor attitude and living a life that lends itself to being the best person you can be. For all I know, I'm self-absorbed and I'm too self-absorbed to see it! (attempt at humor!).
We have to be willing to take the hard looks inward. I heard it said once that it's easier to point outward than inward. Try it. It's true...literally and figuratively. On that note, I will leave you with a final thought to consider, again, a fabulous quote from
a very wise man. "People wrapped up in themselves make a very small package."
I want to be a BIG package! I want to share, I want to live and I want to succeed. I am so thankful that Wayne and I have been given the gift of wisdom from one very wise man. He has been "the gem we both needed to find and never expected to find," all at once. What a blessing!
As we left our meeting our friend made a request. He asked that Wayne and I turn our thoughts to what we can do for other people. So, I am in hopes that in sharing these wonderful quotes is a start at doing just that. There's no way that I can keep all this amazing, peaceful wisdom to myself. That would be such a selfish thing!
I wish you all peace, love, bounty and that you open yourself to seek change, for therein lies "wisdom."
Thanks for stopping by! Till next time...
Annie

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