bythemethod.com blog

Does being older mean that you are wiser? I don’t think so – read on to find out why.

There is an assumption in life that the older you get the wiser you get. There is much evidence to support this – not least through personal experience. I now know, for instance, that you can’t assume girls will laugh at you just because you speak to them.

However let me ask you a simple question.

Who is the wiser? The person who knows little but applies what they know or the person who knows much but still does nothing.

I would suggest it is the former. Wisdom is in the application of knowledge and not in the knowledge itself.

Now I have four (youngish) children and I know that they don’t understand much about the world yet and yet what they have learned they put into operation (generally). They are pretty good at using the knowledge that they are gaining.

However I know an awful lot more than they do about life and the way it works. So why then do I still sometimes make mistakes? Why is it on some days I will get up and I just can’t be bothered to look at my goals? I teach other people, for goodness sake, to set goals and use them and yet some days even I can’t be bothered.

This extends beyond me and mere goal setting. What things do you do that is not wise? Do you ever ignore something that you know you should do something about? Do you ever say anything to anyone which you later regret? Do you ever eat something which you later wish you hadn’t?

Most of us by the time we reach our forties know how to be happy in life and yet why are so many of us miserable?

Never assume that somehow being older had made you wiser.

It seems to me that wisdom is often a choice – it’s something we do not something we are. We must choose to make a wise decision.

The wise thing to do, of course if to choose to be wise.