Wisdom?

I've been rereading John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted, and I'm amazed by how much wisdom he has. This morning I was pondering how we transform ourselves to become more mature people, and I think the answer has something to do with drawing on the wisdom of others that have gone before us. It seems like 99% of everything we do has already been done by someone else. What makes us different is that we (hopefully) allow ourselves to be a compilation of the good in others.

A successful businessman once admired all of the older and more successful businessmen. He told himself that the only reason they were more successful is because they had been doing it longer. The older he got, the younger the successful businessmen became. Why?

He was trying to do things on his own and learn things through his own experience. Yes, I do think there are things we will have to learn on our own, but wisdom from a life already lived is a precious resource.

Proverbs 3:13-15

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,

the man who gains understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her."