Ep. 2 - What if I squeeze you?

“Seek wisdom. Wisdom waits to be gathered. She cannot be bartered or sold. She is a fight for the diligent. And only the diligent will find her. The lazy man – the stupid man – never even looks. Though wisdom is available to many, she is found by few. Seek wisdom.”

-Andy Andrews

What you seek you will find. If you seek nothing you will find it.

If you ask me, which you might not have but hang with it, in recent years I was seeking knowledge rather than wisdom to provide a Spider-Man band-aid to cover a weak self-image. “If I could know more, then I could be more and do more,” squawked my self-talk. Replaying mistakes, shortcomings, times of falling short, stubbing my toe, or missing the bar of excellence all led to a knowledge and capability hankering to avoid looking stupid. To know more and be impressive became a mission.

There existed a brand of “JoeKnows” which started as a joke but turned into pride. Thankfully it was a pretty funny joke worth redeeming! I’m speaking to the downside of seeking knowledge for me while there are absolutely positives to knowledge, but for now, I share my imperfect side.

Can you relate to a search for only knowledge rather than wisdom?

Consider a different perspective:

“If you squeeze an orange, what comes out? Juice?" The answer: "What’s inside of it comes out.”

What a weird question and a bit of a ‘dad’ response, right? Roll the tape a little longer.

“If I was ‘squeezed’ what would come out of me?”

Squeezed by hard times, failures, losses, unknowns, discomfort, alien invasions, bad guacamole, arguments, or a dead phone battery. Some people run, fight, or freeze in the face of life’s firm squeeze. Please don’t run from the squeeze or stretch that’s provided because you are my friends and family reading this and I always need growing and wiser friends and family! “You are who you spend time with,” eh?

I won’t pretend to know everything you’re thinking, feeling, or experiencing. The answers given below by all have shown that wisdom is a trait to find and hone while our short life is on loan. Keep rollin' and happy huntin'!

What are you seeking?

What is inside of you?

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As a reminder, the answer below is in response to the same prompt (be sure to check out episode 1) :

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

CJ B. – “Taking control of my time. Not reacting to situations or people’s needs or wants but to truly own my own time – to plan out my day and stick to it. To control how I use my time and saying “no” to situations or people that encroach on my time… So time must be guarded and protected.”

Lucado S. – “Learn to stand up for what I believe in versus being able to hear people out on where they are. Know when to listen and when to talk plus how to listen and how to talk.”

Marcia G. – “The greater value to BE vs. DO. Finding the call to BE as designed. Not to compete or prove but to BE as designed in your unique and abundant gifts. Life often pushes constant ‘DOing’ with distractions of every kind. BE still, pause, reflect, breathe, rest, and get on a path of peace that restores 100% of your authentic core values.”

Ryan O. – “Slow and steady wins the race. Sometimes ambition only becomes short bursts of excitement or energy and rarely comes to fruition. Take baby steps every day but this allows me to also step back and reevaluate my approach as needed.”

Brent S. – “Nobody sees us the same way we see ourselves… People who care about me, rarely care about personal appearance. Good people care about the Man, not the hair, face, clothes, or car. We should take care of ourselves and know we are awesome regardless of any of the above. It’s not all about ourselves. When I focus on others it helps me distract me from my insecurities about what other people think.”

William C. – “If you go to a job you hate or work with people you don’t like: smile. After tough times it is often the last expression I wanted to make. After tough times, walking around with a smile, a pat on the back, and a word of encouragement went a long way on days like that.”

Anonymous God Father. – “Integrity is the character trait that leads one to ‘do the right thing,’ even though nobody is watching. One’s morals are the foundational basis for guiding us. Our ethics are the yardstick with which we measure our behavior towards others and society. All three compose the ‘Compass’ which steers our path through life.”

Abi G. – “Non-attachment. It’s easy for me to become attached to people too quickly and have a hard time letting go. It’s important to be in harmony with the universe and not hold on too tightly to anything. What belongs in your life will be there without you having to force it.”

Max P. – “You lose friends as you get older that you thought would be around forever. Not that you don’t like each other anymore, just that you get a career and get married and have kids and you just get so busy that you speak less and less.”

Ed J. – “Seeing potential in others vs investing in those people. Consider the following questions: ‘Are they willing to invite me on the journey of self-discovery? Will they invite someone else or will they go it alone?’ I have to accept whichever they choose. My natural inclination is to guide and support when sometimes the person must get there all on their own.”

Kellen G. – “Be passionate, not passive.”

Nick B. – “I can trust and rely that if the source of life is flowing daily it will sustain me. Not just in the big moments of life but the daily moments.”

Kyle G. – “Not to worry about what others think or say about me. I like to make everyone happy and often pay a big price for people that will never be happy and don’t deserve it. It has taken a lot of hurt for me to get that in my head/heart.

Tema N. – “When it’s hardest to pray, pray harder.” + “It is 100% okay to compare your successes to those of others, just remember to factor in the different journeys you and others have been on which would have affected where each of you is now in life.” + “Know the difference and be honest with yourself as to why you are not able to complete a task that you want to or should do. Are you too tired and rest would help? Are you actually unable to do it potentially due to your mental state, skills, schedule, etc.? Are you being lazy?”

Chris S. – “Prayer works. There is a reason we’ve been taught to ‘Pray without ceasing.’ Jesus shows up when people talk about Him and want to be near Him.

Daniel S. – “How to ask for and accept help. What do we do when we come to the end of our knowledge or capabilities? We have to learn how to get the right people around us who have specialized knowledge or different views on things. We all come up short in one category or another. We are all ignorant in some way. But if we get the right people around us we can accomplish more than we can imagine.”

Roslyn O. – “Humility. Mainly not thinking so highly of myself and that I’m better than others.”

Caitlin W. – “Life really is a choice and sometimes people renege on their choices, thoughts, or beliefs. I believe and hope people will do as they say… it’s really hard for me to see people not make great choices or choices that I personally don’t like. It’s not up to me. Their choices are a ‘them and God’ thing.”

Lee B. – “Mastering the art of ‘Failure.’ When there is a habit of running, avoiding, or putting off things and people because I’m fearful of failing I’ve learned to dive headfirst into those situations. Diving in allows me to be okay with giving it my all whether it’s a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ and knowing I tried therefore ‘failures’ are just lessons learned.”

Matt T. – “It takes years of practice to get good at something. Results rarely come in the first few tries.”