baaad idea by nebezial on DeviantArt
We have all had those bad ideas. You know the ones I mean. The ones that you know will get you in trouble, but the joke is too good to pass up. As a child you knew you should not play a joke on your brother or sister because they would cry and you would get a time out. But, it is not always when you are young. Last year, I was at my grandchildren’s house and saw a power soaker sitting empty on the kitchen sink. Yes, I could not resist. While no one was noticing, I filled it with water, then suddenly turned around and soaked my grandson with it. He was horrified because it was against the rules. I chuckled and then saw my daughter heading in our direction. She promptly told me that water in the house was NOT allowed. I started laughing. Oh well, it was a bad move, but …
Wisdom is the art knowing the appropriate way to live life. One definition I saw was that wisdom is, “the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment.” You can unpack that yourself, but wisdom is a practical virtue. Wisdom is not about high degrees of knowledge. A wise person need not even have much formal education. But, a wise person knows how to live life and how to help others near them to live life. A wise person takes what knowledge they have, what experience they have accumulated, and mixes that with good judgment, or perhaps I can say with good application. With regard to the comic above, or with regard to our bad ideas, wisdom does not mean that you do not have bad ideas. Rather wisdom is that quality that allows you to evaluate your idea based on your previous life experience (and knowledge) to reach the decision that the results of your idea would be less than positive and you might wish to avoid carrying it out.
I am not a wise person. But, perhaps I am wiser that I was when I was younger. Then again, when I think of that super soaker, well, maybe I am not. I do know that wisdom is not the opposite of having a sense of humor. But, perhaps wisdom is the art of knowing when to use your humor. May we all learn appropriate wisdom (and humor).
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