You may be familiar with the phrase, "The older you get, the more
you realize the less you know." The first time I heard this I was a
young teen. I thought it was a phrase old people used to suggest they
were slowly losing their mind and couldn't retain information. As a
young teen, I was expected to learn all kinds of things in school I and
could retain almost everything taught if I put in the effort. So this
slow trip into senility must clearly be the case for the old, or so I
thought.
Then as a young adult, when I heard the same phrase, it took on a somewhat different meaning. I had learned a lot of things throughout my teenage years and even more since I had become a new mother of two. Although I knew the basics in life (how to take care of myself and my family) I realized there were things out there I had no idea how to do. I realized the irony of the problem was sometimes I didn't know the right questions to ask to get the answers I was seeking.
Such was the case when I faced legal proceedings regarding custody and child-support battles I unwillingly, yet inevitably, faced. It was completely irrelevant I had no desire to go through such battles; the fact remained, it was something I now had to deal with. There was no way around it or to avoid it; I simply had to go through it. It was then I realized it wasn't my lack of intelligence I was struggling with, it was my lack of knowledge in areas I was completely unfamiliar with, and quite frankly, had no desire to want to understand. And so I did what most do who face legal battles, I hired a lawyer. Then I learned another valuable lesson - you get what you pay for.
When I was reminded of this same phrase again years later, "The older you get, the more you realize the less you know," it brought on a whole new meaning. This time there was an understanding of the wisdom that is reached when we finally acknowledge and admit we don't know it all; the amount of knowledge and information floating around out there can never be fully attained by any one of us in our single solitary lifetime. If any one of us wants to achieve anything at all in our life, we need to understand we need each other's wisdom, experience and insight; comprehending each of us is unique and individual, with various gifts, talents and interests meant to enhance and enrich one another's lives.
This is actually the philosophy of the rich. Not that the rich are necessarily smarter or more gifted than anyone else, they just make sound business decisions by hiring the best professionals to help them make the wisest choices: the best lawyer, best accountant, best business advisor, best financial planner, best estate planner, etc. This is because the truly wise comprehend and acknowledge they don't know everything they need to know to make the best decisions necessary to achieve their desired goals. Essentially, it is in their acknowledgement of their ignorance that they become wise.
To sum this up, it is only the foolish who think they know it all; it is the truly wise who know they don't. "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15
Then as a young adult, when I heard the same phrase, it took on a somewhat different meaning. I had learned a lot of things throughout my teenage years and even more since I had become a new mother of two. Although I knew the basics in life (how to take care of myself and my family) I realized there were things out there I had no idea how to do. I realized the irony of the problem was sometimes I didn't know the right questions to ask to get the answers I was seeking.
Such was the case when I faced legal proceedings regarding custody and child-support battles I unwillingly, yet inevitably, faced. It was completely irrelevant I had no desire to go through such battles; the fact remained, it was something I now had to deal with. There was no way around it or to avoid it; I simply had to go through it. It was then I realized it wasn't my lack of intelligence I was struggling with, it was my lack of knowledge in areas I was completely unfamiliar with, and quite frankly, had no desire to want to understand. And so I did what most do who face legal battles, I hired a lawyer. Then I learned another valuable lesson - you get what you pay for.
When I was reminded of this same phrase again years later, "The older you get, the more you realize the less you know," it brought on a whole new meaning. This time there was an understanding of the wisdom that is reached when we finally acknowledge and admit we don't know it all; the amount of knowledge and information floating around out there can never be fully attained by any one of us in our single solitary lifetime. If any one of us wants to achieve anything at all in our life, we need to understand we need each other's wisdom, experience and insight; comprehending each of us is unique and individual, with various gifts, talents and interests meant to enhance and enrich one another's lives.
This is actually the philosophy of the rich. Not that the rich are necessarily smarter or more gifted than anyone else, they just make sound business decisions by hiring the best professionals to help them make the wisest choices: the best lawyer, best accountant, best business advisor, best financial planner, best estate planner, etc. This is because the truly wise comprehend and acknowledge they don't know everything they need to know to make the best decisions necessary to achieve their desired goals. Essentially, it is in their acknowledgement of their ignorance that they become wise.
To sum this up, it is only the foolish who think they know it all; it is the truly wise who know they don't. "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15
Author of Insight In Sight: Was I Born Like This? A straight gone gay gone straight lady, who shares the journey and how she did it. http://www.sylviehache.com
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