Wisdom. Such a calm, steady word. In this fractured world full of strife and confusion, wisdom brings a sense of calm and peace. Wisdom speaks with a sure voice that tells us it will all work out. You will survive this. You are stronger than you think. It will be O.K.
No one is born with wisdom and you certainly don’t gain it overnight. Wisdom builds on itself over time. You often need to go through the fire, learn from it and come out on the other side… wiser. So, why is wisdom often linked with age? I know many wise, younger people, but there is nothing like time and experience to file off our rough edges, leaving us with the smooth patina of wisdom. With age comes a confidence and wisdom that can only be achieved through trial and error.
When I worked at the college, several of my colleagues and I would look at these young, hopeful students graduating to become registered nurses and we would cringe. These were intelligent, committed young women and men who were excited to start their careers. We were proud to have been a small part of their journey to achieving their dreams. Most of them would be heading out into the battlefield of healthcare, having to make life threatening decisions in a split second. They would be expected to go to work every day giving their best, but prepared for the worst that can happen.
As instructors, we shared all our knowledge and stories that we could to help prepare them, and yet, you can never fully prepare someone for the first time they lose a patient and question whether they could have done something, anything, to prevent it from happening. As my colleague would remind us, you cannot teach the “wisdom of practice.” It can only come through, well… practice. The “wisdom of practice” comes with experience. And while some people gain this wisdom quicker than others, you can’t rush it. It comes from reflecting on experiences and learning how you could improve and how you would react differently next time. So it is with life.
“A wise old owl sat on an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke. The less he spoke the more he heard. Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?”
Edward Richards
Once we have lived in this world long enough, we have gained a perspective and a new appreciation for life. Maybe it is the stark awareness that we have more years behind us than ahead of us that brings this new appreciation. It gives us perspective. And with that perspective comes a deep joy for life. At the very point that our bodies are aging, our soul is filling. And quietly, unexpectedly, with this soul filled life, wisdom shows up.
I pray for wisdom…a lot. Preferably without going through the fire to get it. We need more wise people in the world. While ageism is prevalent in our society, there is an underlying need for timeless wisdom. Our younger generation is relying on us to be the ones that don’t panic. The ones that step back and look at the situation with perspective. The ones that say, it will all work out. It will be O.K.
A lack of wisdom
A few weeks ago, we had over several days when the temperature hovered around zero degrees. It was cold enough for our little lake to freeze over. As kids, we were thrilled when this happened. We would pull on our ice-skates and glide over the frozen water without a care in the world. If the conditions were right, you could skate over the entire lake.
A fear of falling on the hard ice and breaking a hip has prevented me from lacing up my skates anymore (probably wise). But I do enjoy seeing the ice fishermen out there. They take their sleds loaded with a fish huts, chairs, fishing poles and bait and they find a spot to drill a hole into the ice. I have no idea how they decide where to drill the hole. How would you know where the fish are under the ice? Anyway, it is cozy to see their huts scattered over the ice-covered lake. The picture below is a little blurry because I took it from shore, but it shows fisherman with a fish hut on a frozen solid lake.
Since then, the weather has warmed up a lot and the ice is starting to melt, particularly around the shore. When I went for my walk alongside the lake a couple days ago, I saw a fish hut and three guys with poles hanging over holes in the ice. The very thin ice. Not wise. There is a reason we say, when a person is taking a risk, that they are skating on thin ice. The picture below was taken on my recent walk by the water, just a few weeks later than the above picture of the same lake. That is fresh water along the shoreline, and it goes three or four feet out until the ice starts. It is a little hard to see since the clouds are reflecting off of the water around the edge of the lake.
Aside from the ice fishermen, there are a few other things come to mind when I think of a lack of wisdom in older people. Things like wearing a string bikini or speedo at the beach. Or drinking too much and being “that guy” at a gathering. And let’s not even talk about the lack of wisdom in politics. So, my fellow retirees, please stay off the ice when it is melting and instead let’s be the pillars of wisdom that our young people need to see in this world.
