Wisdom: the One True Knowledge

People always misunderstand wisdom. Some might call school knowledge wisdom. These people are horribly mistaken. Knowing the difference between World War I and World War II, that is knowledge. Knowing how to prevent another World War, that is wisdom. People think that, if they go to school a few hours a day, they suddenly become the Buddha, or Kung Fu’tse. These people are fools.

Wisdom can not be learned from a teacher, nor can it be learned from a book. True wisdom, the useful kind of wisdom, can only be gleaned from one’s own life experiences. Only by living our lives and going through various things can we obtain the toolkit for life known as wisdom.

Some people think that knowing a bunch of quotes constitutes wisdom. These people are fools as well. Quotes themselves do not constitute wisdom. Knowing the meaning of quotes is what makes them useful. Saying a quote without knowing the meaning is like saying a word without knowing what it means. It is the same thing with philosophy books. If you have not had any experience that relates to the message of the book, the book is useless, because without experience, you have no idea what the book is talking about. The fact of the matter is that, wisdom can only be gained from life experience. If you think otherwise, you are thoroughly unwise.

I have discussed what wisdom is not. Now I shall discuss what it is.  Wisdom is having the knowledge and tools to succeed in life. Knowledge is a part of wisdom. Having knowledge informs you of others’ experiences, giving you more to learn from. Knowledge gives you the bare bones to build off of. Wisdom gives you the power to use knowledge the right way, and understand how to apply knowledge to everyday life.

That is not to say that knowledge is required for wisdom. Someone who has never been to school can have to wisdom. Someone who has failed every class can have wisdom. Good grades, fancy degrees, and employment positions do not make wisdom. Anyone who has had an important life experience is bound to have wisdom, and you can have a life experience before achieving anything.

I know a few people who have much wisdom. I have always considered myself wise. My friend Sara has wisdom, as does my other friend Liz. What do we have in common? We have all had important experiences at young ages. Why do I think we are wise? I consider myself wise because every time I have given advice to someone, they called me wise. I think Liz is wise because she has had to make some tough decisions, yet she always made the right choice in the end, improving her life, and the lives of others. I think Sara is wise because she has always given good advice, and made good choices. She has shown her wisdom by balancing her life, spreading her focus over different areas of her life at the same time.

All of us are young, but I do not think that age matters when talking about wisdom. That is a common stereotype that needs to go away. As long as someone has had experiences in their life, and has learned something from those experiences, they have wisdom. It does not matter if they had the experience when they were two or twenty, so long as they had it, and learned from it.

Wisdom and knowledge are completely different things, and you are a fool if you get them confused. Knowledge is gained from books, and loses its value once you are older and start reflecting on life. Wisdom is gained from life experiences, and its value is eternal. When you reach a crossroads in your life, it will not help you to know who killed Abraham Lincoln. Knowledge is useless without the wisdom needed to handle it. If you are book smart, but lack wisdom, you will fail at life. Wisdom is the important thing in the end. Knowledge will not help you at times when you need the most help. Only wisdom can help you in your times of direst need. If you understand this statement and accept it, you are on your way towards wisdom.

The Relative Importance of Jobs

Jobs exist so that all of the functions necessary to society get carried out. Ever since the dawn of man, people have always had jobs. In the time of the cavemen, there were hunters and gatherers. People did the duty that they were best at. For many years, people only did jobs that were necessary for survival, and later on, they only did jobs that were necessary to uphold a society. After a while, as people settled down and farmed, and there was surplus, people began to do jobs that existed to give people luxuries. These jobs are unnecessary, and thus unimportant.

Jobs that are necessary for the well-being of our race are all equally important. Doctors take care of our sick or injured. Lawyers and judges help ensure fair treatment for all. Teachers make sure that we have all of the knowledge we need to succeed in life. Leaders help do what is best for their people. Farmers and hunters make sure we have the nutrients we need to survive. Real estate agents give us a place to live. Emergency workers help us in times of crisis. In my eyes, all of these jobs are equally important. They are all necessary to the well-being of the human race, yet so many of them are underappreciated.  So many people deserve recognition for the jobs they do, but receive none. To me this is wrong.

What is further unjust is the fact that unnecessary careers such as acting or performing are considered very reputable. They are unimportant, yet people working in the performing arts are paid astronomical amounts of money. They do not help people, or improve the lives of others. They are not needed for the well-being of society, yet they are still held higher than people in such noble professions as teaching, and being a doctor. We do not need singers, actors, and fashion designers, but they make more money than anyone else. A salary should be based on a person’s worth in society, not by how hard they make you laugh.

Though the disproportionate salary of those who are not really necessary to better society is unjust, one cannot deny that they do contribute something to humanity. They help keep billions of dollars circulating through the economy, and that is nothing small. However, I still believe that people such as doctors and teachers deserve to make the big bucks, and people such as artists and celebrities should make less. Both types of people help keep the economy going, but the former should really be better recognised for all of the things that they do. Not all jobs are important to society, but the money generated by them helps keep the blood flowing. As much as I hate money, and wish it did not exist, I cannot deny that the in our day, money must flow for the good of society. That is the only thing that celebrities, luxury-makers, and entertainers have to contribute to society. Otherwise, nobody is necessary but people similar to those mentioned in the second paragraph.

Love: An Irresistable Force

Love is a timeless force that has shaped mankind for millennia, and it is many different things to many different people. No two people see love in exactly the same way. It is an intangible thing that can never be fully grasped by any one person in all of its glory. As such, everyone has a different definition of love. I shall describe my definition to you.

Love is feeling so deeply connected to someone that you cannot live without them. Love is the knowledge that you are meant to be together. Love occurs when two halves a soul meet again, and form a whole being together. It feels so natural that you cannot imagine ever having been apart in the first place. It is so many other things, I could write a whole book about it (although I am quite sure there are several books that have been written about it already).

To me, love feels like an intense form of euphoria. When you love someone, just seeing that person makes your heart leap with joy. You cannot help but be happy when you are in their presence. That is what love feels like.  It is such an incredible feeling, love is. Shakespeare was one hundred percent accurate when he said, “’Tis better to have been loved and lost than to never have loved at all.”

As for other senses, love cannot be described. It is shapeless in form, and one can never know how it will manifest itself. The “One” for me would ideally be funny and cute. I would not accept a girl if she was not at least a bit intelligent. I would definitely want a girl with wisdom. Physical attractiveness is not necessary, but I would definitely prefer a pretty girl. That is my dream girl.

True love is difficult to find. It is much easier to be passive, and let true love find you. When it does, you will know that it has. Some people go their whole lives searching for love, but never find it. Then there are those who never search for love, and end up being happy with someone for their whole lives, living in ecstasy. Love is a tricky creature. If you do not expect it, it will come, but if you seek it, it avoids you, always slipping through your grasp. My father is an excellent example of this. He always searched for love. He found it, but just as he thought he would be happy for the rest of his life, it slipped through his grasp. He is living proof that it is easier to let love find you, and not the other way around.

Anyone can find love, but that is not to say that everybody deserves it. There are evil people in this world, who do bad things in their life. They only ever make people miserable. Therefore, they do not deserve happiness. Love is reserved for the pure of heart and spirit. Anyone else is undeserving of the beautiful thing called love.

Love is many things to many different people. It has a myriad of different meanings, and it is impossible to give one general definition to something as amorphous and intangible as love. Everybody wants somebody to love, because love is the ultimate happiness. Not everybody deserves love, and those who do not deserve it will never find it. If you look for love, it will torment you, but if you do not look for it, it will find you. Love is an impeccable force that shapes humankind. Without it, the world would be full of evil and meanness. Where would we be if love did not keep our hearts pure? We would be in a world full of cruelty and misery. Love makes the world go round.

Risks

I have taken many different risks in my life, of many different types. I often find that, despite all manner of thinking and pondering a decision, I still have to take a risk in the end. Whether it’s risking trouble or risking the reveal of a secret. I find that a risk often pays off in the end. Most of my gambles have come off well for me in the end. There are only few cases of my risks blowing up in my face.

One of the biggest risks I have taken socially was in my freshman year. I saw a new student sitting all by herself in lunch, so I went and sat down next to her. I made small talk and we got along instantaneously. Her name was Lisette Diaz. She came from up north. My friendship with her was one of the most rewarding things ever. She changed my life. She acted like a second mother to me, always letting me know when I was doing something wrong, sometimes verbally sometimes nonverbally.

By treating me like a child, she taught me what was and was not socially acceptable. She kept me under control at school, where my mom could not be at my side. She also taught me nonverbal communication skills that lacked because of my Asperger’s Syndrome. Due to the aid of Lisette Diaz, I am only a miniscule fraction of how annoying I used to be. She helped me fit in socially, and overcome my autism. This risk has been the most rewarding in my whole life.

A risk I have taken academically was my college essay. You read it Mr. Mannion, and know that it was definitely a risk. I wrote about RuneScape for most of it. However, my analysis of my enjoyment of RuneScape paid off, with me being accepted to every school that I used the essay for, including my number one and number two schools. I can say that this is definitely a risk that was rewarding.

One risk that ended badly for me was a Facebook post. One day, I was angry at my mother and step-father for smoking in our bathroom. I complained on Facebook that I went to the lavatory, and came out smelling like smoke. My step-father saw it and told my mother. She was utterly angry at me. She said that if I ever did it again, I would be punished for about two weeks. I am still mad that she silenced me, but the result of my risk tells me that I would do well not to post about her online again.

I have taken many risks in my life, and most of them have paid off, with only a few of them backfiring. Taking risks is a part of life, and if we did not take risks, we would often find that we would do nothing in situations where something should be done. Risks are a way of testing us, and whether for good or ill, we always accomplish something from a risk. Without risks, we would never achieve anything. They are a means of challenging us, to make us grow. If we never took risks, mankind would still be sitting in caves, jumping at anything that moves.