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Getting older doesn’t always mean getting wiser. It doesn’t mean that one bit. I fear that a lot of individuals believe that because they are a year older, that they can trust their intuition more, or that they no longer need the input of others, or that they know exactly what they’re doing. Nuh-uh. Not so. Unfortunately, wisdom doesn’t come as a freebie with age. Look around. You know that it’s true. Think of five people you know who are roughly the same age. You likely couldn’t say that they all contain roughly the same wisdom. Not even close, right?
You may even be the guide, guru, or caretaker of somebody who is older than you, because you’re wiser than her. You may be amazed at how incredibly wise someone much younger than you is. I understand that we’re supposed to respect our elders and all of that, and while that is true, isn’t this also true: as you’ve gotten older, and been able to analyze the behaviors, habits, and beliefs of your parents, or your teachers, haven’t you found that they aren’t perfect? Haven’t you found that they had their own issues—their own stuff—that was clouding their judgment?
You love and respect your parents but even you now know that some of the ways of life they taught you were, well, for lack of a better word…wrong. It’s a good thing you didn’t just follow them blindly, all because they’re older. Wisdom only comes with age if you’ve made the best use of your years. But many individuals keep their blinders on, look down, refuse to change, won’t open their eyes, repeat patterns, and only get older, but never get wiser. “I’m 45—nobody can tell me what to do,” a boss of mine once said. It was clear she thought that age had made her smarter, but her life was always a trash fire, due to her own behaviors. Here is why getting older doesn’t always mean getting wiser.
Some never learn from their mistakes
Some people never learn from their mistakes. They make a mistake, they hate the outcome, and rather than think about what part they played in this disaster, they just…have sex with a stranger/get really drunk/go on a shopping spree/go on a trip and “refresh.” They just try to walk away from the destruction without assessing it.
