The Value of Wisdom

We live in a society that doesn’t really value wisdom. We seem to want to find out for ourselves what works and what doesn’t. Learn by hard knocks.
When I think about a wise person, woman or man, I have strong visuals. For me, a wise woman should be older, and I always see them with long gray or white hair. I am sure this comes from watching movies, reading books and a good imagination.
Wisdom comes from experience and experience comes with age. When I think of a wise man, my mind see’s clearly the stereotypic figures of a wise old monk, a medicine man, sage etc offering advice and the touch of a well weathered hand. It kinda seems weird to think of a wise man or wise woman having botox or having hair color from a bottle. We expect them to have risen above such things.
A sage is someone who has spent time figuring out life, learning, collecting wisdom and then the most important aspect, someone willing to share this wisdom with the goal of helping, no personal agenda, no baggage attached to it. Just sharing what is important, after all is said and done and what works.
I guess my thoughts today come in part from this inner struggle regarding dying my own hair. Such a simple thing really but it has ramifications, it says something, it speaks about how I view my own aging. I enjoy good health, vigor and lots of energy. That has nothing to do with aging, it has to do with my health, how I take care of myself and a bit of my genetics. But, I do know I am getting older, my childbearing years are over, I have entered into the third stage of womanhood, and I have no real desire to try to stay where I am, but to grow more in this life, to seek wisdom, to seek to share what I have learned.
To move beyond myself and take on a mantle of one who has learned a few things in life. 52 is not old, but its not young either. I am content in who I am and where I am and honestly don’t want to try and fool people into thinking I am younger than I am.
When we see the value of aging, the gold that is found in the voices of our elders, we may not feel so desperate to hang onto youth. When we see that with age, wisdom can come and can be shared.
Most of us can share stories of our grandparents and the wisdom they shared with us. The little bits they would share about life, about love, about the weather, about nature, about the nature of mankind, etc. We love those little tid bits and some dedicate a big portion of their writings about these wisdoms. Are we living in such a way that we are gathering wisdom to share with our children and grandchildren ? Think about what you know from life, think about what you experienced, share what worked and what didn’t. That is wisdom.
Be careful of wisdom from folks who have not lived what they teach and act like they have. At best they should at least share their failings and teach what did not work. That is wisdom too.
In other words, don’t get advice on how to cook, from an person with no kitchen.

My first rose of the new year. A perfect Yellow Rose of Texas !