*WISDOM*

What is Wisdom?

Wisdom is also called as “sapience” or “sagacity”. It is the ability to think and act using
knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with
attributes such as compassion, experiential self- knowledge, non - attachment and virtues such
as ethics and benevolence.

Just a quick trivia, the word “wisdom was mentioned 222 times in the Hebrew Bible. It
was regarded as one of the highest virtues among the Israelites along with kindness and justice.

What does it mean to have wisdom?

Wisdom is having good judgement across many different situations. So to have wisdom
means that someone is able to best leverage all their experience in order to act in the most
effective way for their own benefit and that of others. Wisdom also means adapting to the
specifics of a certain situation, instead of blindly following orders or repeating strategies that
worked before. A wise person sees a situation from many different perspectives and
understands their own strengths, weaknesses instead of acting out of emotions like anger or
pride, or believing something just because they wish it was true.

How to Gain Wisdom?

a. Trying out new things. It’s hard to gain wisdom when you stay in and do same thing
day after day. You get wiser when you put yourself out there and give yourself the opportunity to
learn, make mistakes and reflect on the experience. (e.g. *going to places you’ve never been
before, trying new social activities)

b. Step out of your comfort zone. If you’re afraid to do something, perhaps that’s the very
thing you try to do. When you have to deal with an awkward or scary situation, you come out on
the other side better equipped to handle fear the next time you face it. (e.g. * if you’re afraid of
public speaking, you volunteer to give presentation)

c. Make an effort to talk to people you don’t know very well. Talk to people from different
backgrounds and with different perspectives from yours, and pay attention to what you can learn
from them.

d. Be open - minded. Instead of judging things you don’t know much about, consider
them from every angle and make an effort to understand. It easy to base our views on the
limited experience we’ve had in life, but that’s not the way to gain wisdom. You can’t help that
you’ve grown up in a certain place with certain people, but you can decide on how open you are
to learning about different ways of life.

e. Enrich yourself with education. If you’re interested in learning something new, one of
the best ways to do it is by taking a class. Self - directed learning is also valuable if you cannot
have access time in taking classes. Read as much as you can, it gives insight and information
you need to form valid opinions and make reasoned decisions.

Putting Wisdom Into Practice

a. Be humble in new situations. As Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing
you know nothing” It’s difficult to fully grasp this concept until you’re faced with life situations that
completely stumps you. No matter how smart you are and how many experiences you’ve had,
you’ll encounter times when the line between right and wrong seems fuzzy and you aren’t sure
what choice to make..

b. Think before acting. Take as much time as you need to deliberate on a problem
before making a decision. Think about the pros and cons, taking your experience as well as
others’ advice into account so you can make the wisest possible choice.

c. Act on your values. Your values should be aligned with your conscience, that gut
feeling that tells you what to do base on what you know to be true, when you have big decisions
to make, call up your values and stick to them.

d. Learn from your mistakes. Realize that there’s no such thing as perfection. The goal
isn’t to be perfect but to do your best to act on your conscience and be a good person
throughout life.

Finale: Wisdom is a virtue that isn’t innate, but can only be acquired through experience.
Anyone who is interested in trying new things and reflecting on the process has the ability to
gain wisdom. By learning as much as you can, analyzing your experiences and putting your
knowledge to the test, you can become a wiser person.

SPO1 Alfredo Noble II