A Long Way Short.

I’ve spent my life observing life. I suppose I’ve learned quite a lot, but often it feels as though I’ve actually learned very little. What stands out most to me is this: the further you go, the bigger the horizon becomes.

When I was a teenager I was convinced I knew pretty much 90% of what there is to know. Now I realise I’ve hardly scratched the surface; and sometimes I ask myself what the point of all this observation is. What am I looking for? Frankly, I don’t know, but I suppose wisdom would be a good place to start. Wisdom is an interesting concept, and probably impossible to define.

I’m convinced it has nothing to do with intelligence or cleverness. They’re mere trivialities, and largely accidents of birth. That’s why they’re nothing to crow about. Wisdom has to be gained, and the irony is that wisdom has no need to crow. On the contrary, it eschews the very concept. Whilst intelligence and cleverness live very easily with ego, wisdom doesn’t. Wisdom observes ego as it observes everything else. I’m convinced that the growth of wisdom walks alongside the growth of humility. The wisest people are also the most humble.

Which is why I know I’m a million miles off being truly wise. Still too much ego; still too much reliance on intelligence. And a question occurs to me. Is it possible to become truly wise in a single lifetime? I very much doubt it.

There are those who will say that none of this matters. Maybe I’ll agree with them once my ego has been vanquished.