Wisdom

When your common sense is saying something to you do you listen? Do you pay attention to your intuition? 

We may have a good education with excellent training in our field of expertise, but sometimes our personal wisdom trumps our training.

Wisdom, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is the quality of being wise, intelligence drawing on experience and governed by sound judgement, a store of knowledge, such knowledge converted into teaching. 

As a swimming instructor of teens and adults I draw from my store of knowledge, experience and perception when assessing those who come to me to learn how to swim. 

I’ve had an assortment of students. When someone comes for lessons who is deathly afraid of the water I start them out with simply walking laps in the pool and breathing nice deep breaths. 

Those who come with great techniques but no stamina, I set up competitions within the class. Going all out in order to beat someone is a great motivator as well as a way to build strength and stamina. 

Most recently, I trained a timid teen to participate in her first sprint triathlon.

I met Eva twelve weeks ago when she signed up for group swim lessons. Long, lean and soft spoken she told me of her goal; to complete a sprint triathlon. We talked about her strengths; running and biking as well as her weakness; swimming. Then I had her jump in the water and show me what she knew; mostly nothing. 

I drew on my knowledge from my first sprint triathlon. Swimming in open water as opposed to the controlled environment of a swimming pool is tough work. You cannot control the weather so at times there are wind and waves to contend with. Then there is all the splashing from the clustered crowd at the start of the race. Your body is coursing with adrenaline and maintaining an even breath is difficult. Finally, there was the challenge of keeping the finish line in my vision. 

I knew these same challenges were in store for Eva as well as finding a stroke that I could teach her in the short amount of time we had.

After that first lesson, my intuition told me that even though Eva lacked the mechanics of swimming she had a competitive spirit and that is what I’d use to teach her what she needed to know about swimming. 

We set the goal of working toward 120 meters without stopping. Each time we met, her stamina increased and each time we finished a lesson I told her she’d make her goal. 

For one of our lessons we even met at the lake and swam through the choppy water twice the needed distance. 

This last week I watched Eva compete. She was not at the end of the pack of swimmers, nor at the head, but in the middle of the pack. When she  finished her swim and ran toward her bike, I caught her eye and said, “You did it Eva.” Her smile told me that she knew.

Why Bother?

Why bother seeking wisdom? The experiences of our lives do not automatically give us wisdom. Rather wisdom comes as we carefully glean the astuteness, discernment, and knowledge from life’s experiences. The ultimate use of our wisdom is when we get to share it with others who want to know what we’ve learned.

P.S.  I wrote the story of my journey to forgiveness for those who, like me, experienced a tragedy in life, but do not want their life to become a tragedy. You can find A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness at Redemption Press and Amazon.