(Continuing on from last week. To catch up, go here to read part 1: LINK)
“Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
— The Serenity Prayer used by the Alcoholics Anonymous and other Anonymous recovery groups
Last week we were talking about a “successful” life, and how critical it is to find a balance (using the well known Serenity Prayer as a beautiful example) between having the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and the courage to change the things we can.
We talked about how balance is rare, mainly because it’s commonly believed that serenity and courage are two different things. They’re seen as opposites.
But they aren’t, are they?
The ability to remain serene and centred whilst moving into the unknown, into something that makes you nervous, that requires boldness and courage … these are complimentary, not in opposition.
What is left from the Serenity Prayer, then, is the wisdom to know what to do when.
Wisdom is THE key that unlocks everything.
The question you should be asking yourself then, is: “How do I become wise?”.
Where do you look? Is wisdom based in intuition? Is it knowledge? Is it philosophy? Is it gained through experience?
That is your mission: To find out.
If you want to know my answer, I would say wisdom is found in listening, in paying careful attention. Wisdom certainly comes from making mistakes and from the guidance of others, but the core of it is already here.
Listen to it all: the inner voice, to the need of the moment, to your experience, to your guides and mentors, to your philosophical and spiritual learnings … and then bring that into being, put all of that into practice, here and now.
So: How do you listen?
You have to slow down, even stop, regularly – like every single day. Wake up and be aware. Detach from the anxieties and the plans and the over-thinking of your head. Step back into a different way of being. Present and alive, embodied and alert. Awake.
Here you find wisdom: It is given to you as you give yourself to this moment, to the core of your consciousness.
“I’m not wise!”, you may think.
And so Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, said as well.
He said he wasn’t wise, that he knew nothing. If anything he said he was wiser than most because, unlike them, he knew that he knew nothing. In fact, he also said he owed everything to his daimon, the word he used to describe the quiet voice of wisdom that unfailingly guided him – when he listened – to truth and righteousness.
If Socrates was wise, and he was, so are you. If he had a guiding daimon, so do you. The only distinction is that you don’t listen enough.
Learn to listen, not just with your ears, and there you find wisdom. From wisdom you find serenity and courage. There you find an end to suffering, there you can build a successful life, whatever that might be to you.
So it’s well worth learning to pay attention to the depths within. There you will find the source of everything.