Ep. 1 - Get that knowledge out of here!

I don’t usually write. Being tall, reading books, and talking to people are my preferred communication styles. And yet, here I am writing for an introduction to this concept. Most days I would rather reinjure myself than write. But the desire for this page is to share wisdom shared by others, therefore my personal feelings mattered less. Although, leave it up to me to do something that many believe can’t be done.

Herman Hesse believed that “Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.”

However, in my search for wisdom, I decided to ask others to share their wisdom with me. Many of you reading this were willing to take a stab at transferring wisdom from your life to me. The prompt was simple in framework and often difficult in execution I was told:

“What is a piece of wisdom that has been the hardest for you to personally learn?”

All answers were recorded initially without a plan other than helping myself. A couple of people that know more than me suggested transcribing them for others to potentially gain and learn from as I have.

Before you read this, I would like to advise a thing or two. I’ve found there are only so many “truisms” and “success principles” in life and they show up repeatedly just with different vocabulary and sources. Some of these wisdom nuggets here are shared by teenagers and some by sages in their 70s. The words may be the same but the experience is not. Wisdom written out is simple but gaining it for yourself likely won’t be. Read through this and understand each person has a trek to see with new light what they had already known to some extent. Experience adds depth to knowledge which becomes wisdom. Treat this as a trip to the grocery store; take what you need and leave what you don’t. So experience what you need to, go through what you have to, and pay attention. Don’t miss what you’re being taught and after reflection please pay it forward.

I pray we become the salt and light in the world.

Hannah G. – “Let go of control, just fully believe in God.”

Dominique – “Comparison is the thief of joy.” + “The purpose of life is finding the greatest burden you can bear and bearing it.”

Chris H. – “Seek first to understand before you are understood.”

Nathan W. – “If you want to be great you have to be a servant of all.”

Seth C. – “Some people just don’t like you no matter how much you like them.”

Cole O. – “Everything happens for a reason and no matter how bad the things that happen are they shape me as a man.”

Dane L. – “Learning patience but also slowing down enough to stop and think about what I’m doing. To make sure that ‘yes’ is what I want but not at the expense of others. To the best of my ability.”

Wes S. – “Be patient. You’ll do better work if you are.” + “You don’t really know anything until you do it and have experience.” + “Things take longer than you think.”

Steven P – “You can’t plan the future from the past.”

Chris B. – “Be your 100% self both publicly and privately.”

Whitney B. – “Things will always get better. Even if I don’t know how or when.”

Chris L. – “If you want to be on the ‘stage of life’ be prepared to be criticized by those afraid of being on the stage.”

Sky G. – “Can’t save everyone. Plant the seed, help them grow, only God can save a person and that person also has a choice too.”

Trevor G. – “I am worthy of everything I’ve been through and worth of a fulfilling future. Since I am worthy I have chosen to press forward, find discipline, work out my faith, and continue to trust God.”

Josh H. – “Know the differences between complaining and admitting when things are difficult. Complaining does an injustice to all the blessings one may have. But we also need to know it's okay to reach out for help and realize that we are called to rely on one another.”

David G. – “Awareness of what I’m perceived to be by others.” + “Keep my mouth shut more often.”

John I. – “Remain disciplined especially when the money starts coming in. Discipline is often the first thing to go.”

Ryan S. – “Concept of worth. Can’t put a value on something I don’t know what cap of.”

Naji S. – “How do you pursue doing things you don’t like doing?”

Patrick B. – “How to be patient and trust in faith. Attacking a situation and diving headfirst into a problem [doesn’t] always yield the best result. Staying patient, calm, analytical and faithful has been my greatest challenge. But one of the most rewarding!”

Satish J. – “Don’t let people take you for granted. Being nice is not the same thing as allowing others to walk all over you. You can be nice but not at the expense of your positive vibes/energy.”

Tory C. – “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. – Real experience and analyzing failures is the only way to ‘get it.’”

Matt H. – “Be humble. Bringing another person down does not bring you up. Comparing what another person doesn’t do well only highlights the difference between you, it doesn’t actually prove that you are doing a good job. Use the comparison, sure, but pick out what you think that the other person does best, and compare yourself in that way. Not what you do better than them. This will push you to strive for personal improvement, which in my opinion is the only way to live a life worth meaning.

AJ H. – “Good things take time.”

Zachary G. – You have to love yourself before you can learn to love someone else.”

Elijah K. – “Even my family can be turned into an idol, and that placing my hope in the family will fall short. Only Christ alone can take all the weight of our lives.”

Toby S. – “Delegation.”

Craig W. – “Try really hard not to stress or worry about things that are out of your control.”

Peyton – “Plan on your plans changing.”

Stephanie N. – “Time and balance – the two most difficult things to have control over, yet they are both the things that we do control.”

Josiah W. – “Redefine what failure means” + “Make sure that a metaphorical door of opportunity is actually locked before you move on.”

Ryan S. – “You can’t coast anymore” + “Have a ‘Board of Directors’ on decisions in your life.” + “Make sure your cup is filled before pouring it into others. Often accomplished through a morning routine/disciplines.”

Rylan W. – “Being right is not always the right thing to be.”

Scott Mc. – “Don’t internalize everything; nothing gets resolved.”

Matthew F. – “Be aware that your motivation for fun projects could fade if you don’t change things up when you feel that fatigue coming on.”

Bradley K. – “God’s timing and the plan are so different than ours.”

Dereje – “Learn how much consistency is required for success.”

John K. – “Don’t give a fuck about what other people think of you. You can’t control it. It doesn’t have any positive impact on your growth and self-worth.”

Megan R. – “Put God first above all things and prioritize time with Him every day.”

Mark H. – “Save as much money as possible, no matter how small the amount.”

Andrew R. – “Anything humans have done, so too can you do.”

Jon H. – “Make things I do serve two purposes – in a professional sense.”

Dwight N. – “Shooting for the stars doesn’t mean you should refuse other opportunities. Even if you want great things you’ve got to start working on small reasonable, less interesting, unrelated things.”

Jon R. – “Live each day like your last day on earth.”

David Y. – “Life isn’t about my performance. It’s about being confident in my identity as a beloved son of the living God.”

Ryker B. – “Leadership is an ever-changing language that involves a great deal of empathy, but relating to someone, and choosing the right motives to put rubber to the road is the experimental piece of learning the language. Learn to use what inspires people and the core values to help motivate and lead."

Catherine A. – “How you want people to see you, read you, be with you, appreciate you… do all those exact same things for yourself when you’re by yourself, you deserve it.”

Kurtis M. – “Beauty is born from humility and freedom to be your true self.”

Blake G. – “God sends us through desert seasons before we get to see the fruit of our labor. Apart from Him, we can do nothing of eternal value. Full Submission, complete trust, immediate repentance, and fearless obedience is what He asks of me.”

Alec H. – “Spending/paying for things that are essential to my goals/happiness is essential.”

Craig R. – “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

Laura B. W. – “There is a time and place for people-pleasing but usually it just doesn’t serve.”

Phalai – “Life doesn’t stop. It just keeps going. Life doesn’t get easier, you just manage better.”

Marlan G. – “The most important questions in life are the ones you ask yourself-make sure you’re asking yourself the right questions.”

Shawn M. – “I do not have absolute control over the universe.”

Tate M. – “It’s better to be open-handed with plans to God.”

Christian J. – “To be truly high you must be willing to climb low.”

Elke N. – “When you are continually looking forward towards finishing a task or goal we sometimes get distracted from enjoying the present.”

Luke S. – “Failure to connect with people isn’t an indictment of my character.”

Trent A. –“The opinion of man doesn’t matter because he looks at the wrong things (appearance), so I need to stop caring about image and focus on the heart.”

Marius – “As much as life seems like a rat race and fierce competition is everywhere, helping others succeed gives you the most happiness in the end.”

Brandon J. –“The first step of being really good at something is being really ad at something and to stick with it.”

Gautam A. – “Ego is the opposite of curiosity and peace of mind.”

Toby S. [expansion] – “People have also been doing things and have found ways of getting something done, making you not the only one capable of completing a task. There is always more than one way to do something and delegating to others gives them a chance to be needed and grown. Have the vulnerability to open up and allow help to come. Others have value and experience to add.”

Haley H. – “It is not your business what anyone thinks about you and what is right for you. [Your choice] does not have to make sense to them.”

Dan A. – “Faith only grows by being tried. You don’t grow by being comfortable, but when you’re in situations that are more than you can handle, but God bridges the gap for you.”

Van P. – “Trust the process and [set] boundaries for myself. Boundaries not only serve me but also the other person too. I feel more fulfilled and less resentful when I can set clear intentions and boundaries. Second, I find that I can be resistant to change because I’m scared that being different is a bad thing. But more often times change has led me to beautiful things. Life is always a work in progress, right?”

Brady V. – “When things happen to you that you cannot understand why or how means it was a gift from the higher to show a sign for your journey.” + “the Higher deals cards, but only we play our hands. You are the savior and hero of your own story and no matter what it always comes done to your actions, intentions, and emotions to make the life we desire of out hardships and opportunities given to us.”

Peter D. – “Happiness is gained through generosity.”

Remi W. – “Fall in love with the process of creating things. Things take time.”

Frankie A. – “Be my authentic self.” + “Boundaries actually gain you respect.” + “Not being me would rob the world of God’s gift of me.”

Ebenezer A. – “You can be right but wrong [when] at the top of your voice.”

Eden C. – “People will never change their mind about certain things, and there’s just no point trying to persuade them to or to prove them wrong.”

Tyler C. – “Everything happens for a reason, it gets worse before it gets better, trust the process.”

Morgan – “If your compassion and forgiveness do not include yourself, it is incomplete.”

Justin D. – “Learn to actually just be yourself.”

Larry L. – “Trust: Trusting God, also called faith. Faith that He will provide.”

Ken G. – “Sometimes we are not perceived the way we once thought or how we may have been aiming for.”

Neftali A. – “Live in the moment and spend resources on things one enjoys.” + “there really is no time long enough that allows you to fully know someone."

Steven A. – “I can’t get everyone to like me.”

CJ L. – “Failure isn’t when you don’t succeed, it’s when you stop trying.”

Gabe H. – “Learn to trust God to instill in me the intuition and feeling of what is the right thing to do and to avoid over-analyzing.”

Jessica Z. – “Sometimes you say ‘no’ to good things so you can say yes to the best things.”

Adam – “The only one I’m competing against is me and myself only.”

Ciara L. – “Life is not fair. No one ever told us it would be but for some reason, we still have this expectation that it will be or should be and we live accordingly. That’s why it’s so easy to turn your back toon God or point the finger at Him and demand answers for misfortunes but when in reality, He is the most steadfast love we’ll ever get. In times of unfairness, draw closer to Him, the truth.”

Jon C. – “Just take a step and give it a try, one step at a time. After prayer, the other important thing is risk analysis. If the risk is acceptable or can be mitigated, then take a step and trust God.”

Steven B. - "Talk less, listen more. The lizard is easy to catch but sits among the kings." + "To not seek knowledge. Wisdom is past knowledge and understanding that you don't necessarily learn, you acquire. And that only comes through experience."

Paul S. - "Wisdom can be obtained by some overtime. Discipline and self-control are practiced by a blessed few who were trained in it."

Chris N. - "Humility and continuing to reach out to others for their view."

Miki R. - "People pleasing. Changing that default setting is harder than I thought."

That's all for now! I'll be adding more as they come in. Thank you so much for absorbing this and God bless.