Day of 9's

Today is 9-9-9... it's currently 9am, so I thought I'd read some wisdom from the 9th chapter of Proverbs. The 9th verse smacked my face, and really was unsettling in many ways.

Save your breath for the wise—they'll be wiser for it;
tell good people what you know—they'll profit from it.

That seems to make no sense at first glance. You can read that this way. Don't waste your time with fools, just talk to people who are wise. Shouldn't someone who is wise talk to someone who is struggling? How would the fool ever find help if all the wise people shunned him like, well... a fool?

After I took a breath... I got it.

My dad used to say "Son, there are two types of people. Some listen and learn, others live and learn. Which will you be?"

Meaning that some people can talk to someone and learn something and stay away from a bunch of guilt and regret in life. Other people say "yeah, whatever" and have to live, build up guilt and regret and then they'll look back and know what they "should" have done. That person is a fool.

So, it's not about not saying anything to someone who acts like a fool, and not trying to help. But, it is realizing that some people some times... just need to live and learn, and at the end of that road they will look back and say "OHHHH, that's what they meant." "Stupid"

What wise people know.

Wise people know that they don't know everything.

That's counterintuitive because you would think that wise, or intelligent people, would be the ones that everyone would come to to get answers to their questions... right?

Well, there's one thing I've learned in life.

Wise people know when they don't know.

I'm not good at that. Too many situations in life make me feel as though I have to have all the answers, and I have a hard time of saying many times "I don't know".

But not only do wise people know when they don't know. Wise people aren't afraid to go to someone who does know.

Wise people ask questions, and lots of them. That honestly makes me think that my 5 year old is a genius, and if you think about it... he does learn a lot every day. And what does he do all day? Ask questions. I read once that the average 5 year old asks 473 questions per day... no wonder they learn so much at this age. Why do we ever stop that? I guess someone along the way told us we ask too many questions, but I honestly believe that person was/is a fool.

So here I sit... grateful for wise people in my life who help me be just a bit more wise, and I'm hopeful that I'll be wise enough to realize when I'm at my limit and humble enough to ask for help.