One thing I’ve realized is that the wisdom I’ve accumulated from my life experiences is the most reliable guide to what will make me the happiest.
In Nora Roberts Land, my heroine, Meredith Hale, has two sources of wisdom to rely on outside of her own instincts, which she doesn’t trust anymore after her divorce. Her alter ego, Divorcee Woman, starts talking to her, making recommendations that fall under the category of what I’ll call wicked wisdom. I like to think of Divorcee Woman as the good angel on Meredith’s shoulder, rather like we used to see in old cartoons. She’s always suggesting Meredith get together with the hero, Tanner, and stop resisting him because, heck, the guy’s her soul mate. The other is Meredith’s grandpa, the totally lovable Arthur Hale. He’s lived a full life and has a good perspective on the world and human nature from his lifetime of work as a journalist. And he’s the one to point out when Meredith’s not acting from a place of wisdom—what he’d call her crazy place. Okay, and I’m hearing that I’d better mention Meredith’s sister, Jill, as another source, or I’m going to get into trouble. While younger than Meredith, Jill does have “some” wisdom to offer her.
What makes wisdom so important anyway? To me, it’s like the shortcut to happiness. When we heed it, our life goes a lot better. It’s when we buck against it that we get into trouble.
That isn’t to say that we shouldn’t break free of a collective wisdom that doesn’t serve us. I’m thinking the airplane would never have been invented if the Wright brothers had listened to people saying it couldn’t be done. Besides, who doesn’t like the challenge of the impossible?
We all have to follow our inner compass, and like Meredith finds, Divorcee Woman and her grandpa are only telling her what, deep down, she already knows about herself and her life.
Sometimes we just forget. Or maybe we weren’t taught how to listen to ourselves.
Wisdom has this cloak of reverence around it. Sometimes it deserves to be revered. The poet, Rumi, comes to mind for the way he strings together flowery phrases that tell us about living life from a higher place. But sometimes, wisdom is just common sense. Like, don’t put a bunch of hair spray on and then go flambé some cherries jubilee. Trust me, this is not a good idea.
When our actions flow out of our wisdom, our happiness is great. We’re living our best life, the one we’ve always wanted to live.
So, what is the wisdom that you are acting from in your life? More importantly, is it serving you? If you’re not happy, then I’d bet the farm you’re letting something other than wisdom guide your actions. And if you’re like Meredith and you’ve forgotten what it feels like to know your own wisdom, do what she did, and look to the people you respect in your life who seem to have a happy life. What are they doing differently than you? What can they offer to you in the form of wisdom?
Don’t let the W-word put you off. You already know what it is. Even if you’ve forgotten for the moment.