We receive wisdom and insights from all kinds of sources – family and friends, work colleagues, various professionals and experts, self help books etc. There are also the clever and insightful one-liners, which proclaim universal truths based on the passed down teachings of philosophers, spiritual, religious and political leaders, and writers. Social media, especially Twitter is particularly suited to the dissemination of this condensed form of wisdom.
Being reminded of ‘universal truths’ helps us to stay grounded, and can cause us to pause for reflection before acting. As we grow in awareness that which was previously a major revelation will only be of passing interest or a useful reminder of something we have already internalized.
But we need to be selective and discerning. The ‘advice’ that is useful is the part which you recognize as having a ‘ring of truth’ to it for you at a point in time.
There are no ‘off the self’ solutions to our specific challenges or objective ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, and you can be presented with apparently equally valid but contradictory insights. For example, taking risks for the sake of our personal growth versus the need for caution in order to void pitfalls. The correct action in any given situation is dependent on what you want to achieve and who you want to become. It may come down to what ‘feels’ right, what your intuition is telling you. At times this might require you to be bold and adventurous and at other times cautious, or maybe a balance between the two.
A spiritual perspective is that if we are open and seek guidance from our ‘higher power’, the insights we need will always be forthcoming. Part of openness is being alert to receiving guidance in unexpected forms or from unexpected sources – a comment from someone we don’t like, the uninhibited chatter of our children, an event on a TV soap, a passing comment by a stranger, an advertising hoarding. These are just a few examples to illustrate that ‘God works in mysterious ways ‘.
It makes sense to seek out and be open to whatever insights are available to us, as the more we learn from the perspectives, experience and mistakes of others the better. This is much more efficient and a lot less painful than learning everything the hard way ourselves !
