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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my favorite fast food restaurant is Taco Bueno, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I talk about something that you can never get enough of.
Tales From the Cask is hosted by Chip Mims, Tony Walldorff, and Jennifer Balik. Each week Chip, Tony, and Jenn sample some amazing craft beers from the world’s best craft brewers, and interview some of the industry’s most talented brewers, business leaders, journalists, and historians. Tony and Jenn are both Cicerone certified and bring their vast beer knowledge to the bar each week. You can check out Tales From the Cask at talesfromthecask.com, Facebook.com/talesfromthecask, or on Twitter @TalesCask.
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What I Learned Yesterday:
Well as I said in the intro, today’s episode is about something that we can never get enough of. Can you guess what it is? No, it’s not bacon, but that’s a good guess. Let me give you a clue. Here’s one way it is defined by Merriam-Webster:
knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life
Another definition is:
the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand
Have you guessed it yet? Here’s a final definition:
knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment
By now I’m sure you’ve guessed that today’s topic is wisdom. As I said, we can never get enough of it.
Where does wisdom come from? That is, how do we gain wisdom? Does gaining wisdom even matter? Is wisdom the same as knowledge?
First off, wisdom and knowledge aren’t the same thing. A wise person once told me that wisdom is the the ability to know how to properly apply knowledge. That is to say, we can have all the knowledge in the world, but if we don’t know what to do with it, that doesn’t make us wise.
So what about the question of whether or not wisdom matters? Do you think it matters? Is it possible to go through life without much wisdom? Is it possible to acquire wealth and achieve things without wisdom? Yes it is.
As an example, let’s take a very quick and basic look at the sports world. Have you ever seen an athlete achieve success by being drafted by a professional team and that athlete seemed to lack wisdom? Have you ever observed an athlete make loads of money and then squander the money and the opportunity of being a professional athlete? Why? Well, for starters, they had a lack of wisdom.
While this example illustrates the fact that it is possible to achieve great things (making it to the professional athlete ranks) and make lots of money without wisdom, it also illustrates the reality that wisdom does matter.
Do you think some people naturally have more wisdom than others? I do. However, like nearly everything in life, some people start out with more than others, but everyone can acquire all they want of it. The truth is, there’s no shortage of wisdom.
Now you may be thinking that you’re pretty sure that by looking at the world around us, there’s seems to be a major lack of wisdom. I won’t disagree with you. However, that does not mean that wisdom has gone away or in shortage. It just means that people are either less wise or choosing to make unwise decisions. Wisdom can still be found in plenty if we look in the right places.
Where are the right places? Now that’s a good question.
As I think about wisdom and where I have acquired it, I think of two things. The first is people, the second is literature.
There have always been men in my life that I have looked up to and looked to for guidance and wisdom. As a child and adolescent those people were my dad, grandpa, grandma, a neighbor named Mark, and a teacher named Greg. As I stepped out on my own and went to college, those people were still my dad and grandparents, but I also looked up to a friend named Chuck, another friend named Brian, and my boss, Gerald.
However, there are two men that I will always consider to have had a tremendous influence on me due to the amount of wisdom they gave me. Both men mentored me in my career at different times. One man is named Sammy, and the other is named Richard.
What’s surreal is that I am now approaching the age that Sammy was when he mentored me.
When thinking about wisdom found in literature, I believe there is no better source than the Bible. At the very least, we should all be able to agree that the book of Proverbs is simply oozing with wisdom on every page. In the book of James, the author says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
Here’s the cool thing about wisdom. Wisdom is one of those things that does not deplete from the side of the giver when it is transferred to the recipient. Think about how powerful that is. If I give you $100, that means that I now have $100 less than I did the moment before I gave it to you. However, you will have $100 more dollars than you did before I gave it to you. Similarly, time is something I can give you, but it’s not an equal exchange either. Once I give you my time, it is gone forever. Neither of us can get it back.
However, wisdom only compounds with use. It grows as it is shared. As I share wisdom with you, we are both made better. When you share wisdom with me, all boats rise.
We spend a lot of time pursuing money, notoriety, gizmos, glittery things, prizes, awards, and things that will look good in on a resume, press release, or obituary.
Of course, not all of those things are bad. In fact, none of them are. It is our improper pursuit of them, our misaligned worship of them that bring about emptiness.
However, I can tell you that seeking wisdom has never left me empty, thirsty, or depraved.
So today’s episode is just a reminder that some things in life matter. Some things in life bring true gain, and others only bring perceived gain. May each of us pursue wisdom and with that wisdom, pursue those things that matter most.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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