I have always lived too much in my head. Always observing, analyzing, and earnestly trying to deduce some of life’s mysteries. All laborious endeavors exerted in the hopes of gaining some secret visionary perspective; a new knowledge of a person, a situation, a circumstance in order to strategically plot my next move. To always be one step ahead. For what purpose does this desperate striving serve? To alleviate the possibility of as much pain from my life as possible.
Most people choose to escape the pain or bypass it altogether, not I. I will face it, but only while being armed with as many weapons as I can haul into my arsenal. As if being prepared for what is to come will lessen the harsh realities of the experience at all.
I fear all it has done is deluded me to the fact that my efforts have been in vain.
Wisdom is an expensive treasure bought with the price of our youthful naivite. When we are young it seems that boundaries of life are quite limitless and yet reachable at the same time. All is possible and contained within the extent of our reach. Our thinking is primarily focused on the here and now, living life in utter spontaneity and joyful impetuousness. These traits seem quite foolish to our older, wiser selves. But are they?
The older and more experienced we become with life and all of its surprises seems to bring about a shift in perspective. We begin to think ahead more, looking towards the future we plan our next moves quite carefully. Long gone are the impassioned impulses that drove our youthful imaginations. But is this wisdom that has taught us to behave this way or the fear of living life to its fullest due to the beatings we’ve suffered from past foolish mistakes?
With life experience, first comes maturity followed by wisdom gained and with it comes the clarity of seeing everything from a perspective of the existence of possible future consequence.
So to follow this logic, is it safe to say that wisdom is gained through the brutality of living through the foolishness of day-to-day existence? It is the dog that flinches at his raised master’s hand or the athlete that warms up before the game. It is not that we prefer to live a life of fear, but it is a trade off of values. What was the end-all-be-all of existence before, our immediate satisfaction, no longer holds with it the same appeal as before. First, see if the train is coming before stepping out on to the tracks. If we miss this train, we now understand that the chances of another one coming along are very good.
So as we get older, it is not that we forget the excitement of living in the moment, all or nothing or that our lives becomes so filled with fear or that we lose our nerve to take any more risks either. It is the fact that life has taught us to compromise, to wait and to consider all things before making a decision. Life teaches us to value the things that will last longer and require the least amount of pain. Something that looks good today may be something we don’t quite feel the same about tomorrow. We begin to carefully choose our battles.
Even as we grow older, we must always remember that there still exists the possibility for risk and to reach for the impossible. We don’t have to give up our hope or our dreams, they are still attainable, yet with our newfound wisdom we are instructed to be more selective with what we choose to gamble it all on.
What truth does the bible give us about wisdom? The bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Perhaps that is what this fear is, this new kind of matured understanding of how the world works, this broader perspective and deeper insight that we know we should be living our lives right in the God's sight.
Jesus said, "So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." And, "And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?" Living in the here and now is, living life without our fear, without the care or worry of what happens tomorrow.
The bible also says in Jeremiah 17:7, "My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me." Trusting the fact that we know God is in control of it all and we are living our lives right in His eyes is living in the present mindset and living life without any fear of risking everything on today because we know tomorrow is in His hands and we know it will turn out alright.
Most people choose to escape the pain or bypass it altogether, not I. I will face it, but only while being armed with as many weapons as I can haul into my arsenal. As if being prepared for what is to come will lessen the harsh realities of the experience at all.
I fear all it has done is deluded me to the fact that my efforts have been in vain.
Wisdom is an expensive treasure bought with the price of our youthful naivite. When we are young it seems that boundaries of life are quite limitless and yet reachable at the same time. All is possible and contained within the extent of our reach. Our thinking is primarily focused on the here and now, living life in utter spontaneity and joyful impetuousness. These traits seem quite foolish to our older, wiser selves. But are they?
The older and more experienced we become with life and all of its surprises seems to bring about a shift in perspective. We begin to think ahead more, looking towards the future we plan our next moves quite carefully. Long gone are the impassioned impulses that drove our youthful imaginations. But is this wisdom that has taught us to behave this way or the fear of living life to its fullest due to the beatings we’ve suffered from past foolish mistakes?
With life experience, first comes maturity followed by wisdom gained and with it comes the clarity of seeing everything from a perspective of the existence of possible future consequence.
So to follow this logic, is it safe to say that wisdom is gained through the brutality of living through the foolishness of day-to-day existence? It is the dog that flinches at his raised master’s hand or the athlete that warms up before the game. It is not that we prefer to live a life of fear, but it is a trade off of values. What was the end-all-be-all of existence before, our immediate satisfaction, no longer holds with it the same appeal as before. First, see if the train is coming before stepping out on to the tracks. If we miss this train, we now understand that the chances of another one coming along are very good.
So as we get older, it is not that we forget the excitement of living in the moment, all or nothing or that our lives becomes so filled with fear or that we lose our nerve to take any more risks either. It is the fact that life has taught us to compromise, to wait and to consider all things before making a decision. Life teaches us to value the things that will last longer and require the least amount of pain. Something that looks good today may be something we don’t quite feel the same about tomorrow. We begin to carefully choose our battles.
Even as we grow older, we must always remember that there still exists the possibility for risk and to reach for the impossible. We don’t have to give up our hope or our dreams, they are still attainable, yet with our newfound wisdom we are instructed to be more selective with what we choose to gamble it all on.
What truth does the bible give us about wisdom? The bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Perhaps that is what this fear is, this new kind of matured understanding of how the world works, this broader perspective and deeper insight that we know we should be living our lives right in the God's sight.
Jesus said, "So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." And, "And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?" Living in the here and now is, living life without our fear, without the care or worry of what happens tomorrow.
The bible also says in Jeremiah 17:7, "My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me." Trusting the fact that we know God is in control of it all and we are living our lives right in His eyes is living in the present mindset and living life without any fear of risking everything on today because we know tomorrow is in His hands and we know it will turn out alright.
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