Wisdom

You will hear about a lot of underrated things in your life. Someone somewhere has something important that you and the rest of the world don’t appreciate the way you should. “Dude, (name something) is so underrated. You’ve gotta check it out.” You’ll hear it often. Get used to it. Most likely, you’ll do it yourself as well. There are a lot of underappreciated things in the world. It’s a lot of ground to cover. But let Dear Old Dad introduce you to the most unappreciated item: Wisdom. How do I know it’s taken for granted so often? Well, I’m glad you asked.

First off, it’s important to understand what wisdom is. It’s often confused with being smart. Nope. That’s intelligence. They are two very different things. Intelligence is how smart you are and what you can figure out. You may not know the answer but if you apply your intelligence, you can probably get the solution with time. Wisdom is the application of your experiences. Intelligence can tell you how a stove works. Wisdom says that they are frequently hot and not the best place to put your hands. You may not know why it’s hot. You just know it is. Intelligence is the cool kid that everyone admires, even if it’s a bit grudgingly. Wisdom is a little standoffish and quiet, but he rarely steers you wrong when you need advice.

You can’t deny that both are important. But they are earned in very different ways. Intelligence is something to be respected. It can be gained through study, research and application. If you take the time to do the work, you get smarter. Period. Reading Einstein’s writings on relativity may not mean you’ll fully understand it. But you won’t be dumber for the effort. Being “book smart” isn’t going to hurt you any.

Wisdom is different. You have to earn it through experience. You can’t read it in a book and fully understand it. Even more ironically, you often attain wisdom instead of what you sought. It’s like a universal Consolation Prize. You were shooting for the championship trophy but you got Most Sportsmanship instead.

Yuk.

I don’t know, dad, you’ll say. Wisdom sounds kind of lame. Ok, I’ll grant you that. You wanted something else. You wanted that cool kid intelligence but all you got was egg on your face and that nerdy wisdom. You touched a hot stove and damn, that hurt. Stupid stove.

I know, I know. I’m not exactly selling the “most underrated” title well when it comes to wisdom. But think about it for a minute. Of the two, which is more rare? The one that everyone can see the path to achieving or the one that’s harder earned through experience? If the difference is how smart you are and what keeps you out of danger it’s not hard to figure out. Intelligence tells you how a mortgage works while wisdom tells you how much house you can really afford. Intelligence can teach you how to ride a bike, but wisdom tells you how fast you can ride it without winding up in a ditch, again. Intelligence can run the math on whether or not you’re probably sober enough to drive. Wisdom says give your keys to your friend or call a cab.

We tend to gain intelligence on purpose and wisdom by mistake. That’s the main reason wisdom doesn’t seem as valuable, in my opinion. It can often appear to be the shattered remains of a plan gone bad. It’s the castaway pieces of bad execution. But there are diamonds in that disaster. Look for them. Polish them up. They are priceless. I know a lot of very smart people who never thought of themselves as the most intelligent person in the room. Instead of talking about how smart they were they listened and learned something new. Knowledge has a way of coming at you sideways sometimes. Wisdom helps you see it for what it is and grab it before it’s gone.

I would like to think that I have a vast storage of wisdom. In truth, I have gained precious little. More than some and less than others. What I have learned I tend to use, and it has always served me well. You will gain some as well. Cherish it. It’s hard earned and often by mistake. But you can be as intelligent as the next guy and without wisdom you’re just book smart and walking around dumb. More importantly, you have to live a little to gain it. Just remember that though it may not always feel like it, even the worst experiences in your life will deliver you some something you can use. It’s there. You just might have to look for it.