Posts Tagged ‘Wisdom’

‘Wise men and women are always learning, always listening to fresh insights.’ Proverbs 18:15

Do you wish to be wise? Well here are some things that you need to do. Firstly, you need to always be willing to learn. Secondly, you need to always listen to fresh insights.

So how do you go about these two important activities?

Let’s have a closer look at both.

1. Wise Men & Women Are Always Learning

I set a goal recently: to live until the age of 104. And a funny thing happened the other day, after I had set that goal, as I was filling my car at a petrol(gas) station. The station just so happened to be right next to a bowling alley, and the sign on the building was requesting new members from the age of 4 to – now wait for it – to the grand old age of 104. I couldn’t believe my eyes and joked with my wife that I should return to sign up when I reach the age of my proposed longevity goal.

Continue Reading…

My dad’s my hero. He’s loved me when I wasn’t lovable. He’s encouraged me when I needed encouragement. He’s challenged me. He’s supported me and has provided me with a guiding example. He has made me laugh, and is to this day an awesome story teller.

His greatest attribute is that he’s a doer and not just a talker. While everybody else was having a committee meeting Dad had already done what needed to be done. He’s a man of action, and he loves my mother(see photo).

I have observed him as he led our family through acts of dedicated service for many years. And as I think about who he is, and the wisdom he’s imparted to me – not always by word – but in many ways by deed – here are eight facets of the wise advice that I’ve caught from him. I am my father’s son, and I’m proud to call him dad – and trust that I can be the shining example he has set for me to follow to my own children, and his grandchildren.

Continue Reading…

‘Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance.’ Anthony De Mello

The over-riding and enduring evidence of someone who is wise are the foundations of integrity and humility that have been forged throughout the years within the fabric of their beings.

The more they grow the less they realize they know. They are in no need of self promotion. They have no desire to raise themselves above others. They flow seamlessly between those surrounded by abundance and those surrounded by lack. They are as comfortable in the company of paupers as they are in the company of kings.

Continue Reading…

‘Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.’ Lao Tzu

The Greek philosopher Epictecus explained it this way, that ‘we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.’

And I tend to think that Lao Tzu was thinking very much along those lines when he wrote the words, ‘Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.’

We have all been in a social setting where there is one particular person in the group who dominates the conversation. Now may I add, that the one with the loudest or most dominating voice is not necessarily the wisest.

Continue Reading…

Frantic people live frantic lives. Stressed people live stressed lives, So many are driven. So many people are over-active. So many people strive. They are anxious – often eating and drinking far too much and working far too long.

Now with mobile phones, iPads, laptops demanding the attention of modern life – it is now more important than ever to learn to live life at the pace of rest.

When was the last time you simply stopped to think? When did you last pause? When did you take a deep breath? When did you stop to listen to the wind, the ocean, the birdsong, or the crackling of an open fire?

Continue Reading…