Learning wisdom from others
I received an email today from a woman who described herself as passing from the autumn to the winter season of her life. The words she shared made me think of the character and quality of wisdom which seems untransferable between individuals and must instead be mined like ore from the ground by each one of us through the hard efforts of living.
Hello Susan,
I’m sorry for my long delay in response. Thank you for your nice message and words of advice borne of experience. Though I know it is difficult to learn wisdom from the words of others I will truly try to remember and heed your observations about the fall and winter seasons of life. Isn’t it strange how those younger than us can never really learn from what we say and must always rediscover truth for themselves, and then usually the hard way. This doesn’t mean that the words of those who have gone before are without meaning or can do no good, as I for one usually find great comfort in remembering what was told me after the fact of discovering the truth for myself. I expect that this is the real boon to be shared when those who have gone before take the time to compose and share their thoughts and experiences. A later balm to the young when it is their turn to suffer passage through life’s various trials. The words in your last email have given me strong impetus to break open the word processor at every opportunity in order to jot down my thoughts and experiences and make these available to my daughter and any others who may care to read. Your email has indeed had a great influence on me and I wish to thank you expressly for what you have done in helping me to understand this simple truth of sharing.
I hope that your week is going well. I’m off to the USA tomorrow to see my family and attend to some business. Included in the itinerary is a job interview which may change the course of my family’s life. I hope we can keep in touch as you are certainly one of the persons whom I feel privileged to know and who’s correspondence I must always cherish.
Have a wonderful day!
Kurt 🙂
From the original archive
First published on softypapa.wordpress.com on July 30, 2013. Original text, photographs, links, and embedded media preserved.
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