What makes a person wise? And what is wisdom anyway? The word alone sounds grand, elevated, respected or even honoured, and yet wisdom is no more than a set of character traits and qualities that can be acquired. In fact, becoming a wiser person ought to be considered just as worthy and attainable an ambition as being a slim, fit or educated person. No one is born wise, it is a skill that can be learned, once you have an idea of what a wise person might look like.
A wise person is pragmatic, with both feet firmly on the ground. They understand that life can be complex and any undertaking, whether its a new job, new relationship or new anything, it will require effort – and it won’t run smoothly. This attitude keeps the wise person steady in the face of the inevitable challenges of life.
The United States Navy SEALs have a saying that ‘calm is contagious’, and the wise person knows that a calm mind makes for wiser decisions. This is because a calm brain engages more of the prefrontal cortex region, the rational part of the brain. Calmness is a skill the wise person cultivates. The simple act of making an exhalation of the breath twice as long as the inhalation for half a dozen breaths will help with calmness (a wise person would also validate claims by their own experience).
Wise people are tolerant of their own human frailties and therefore of others. They see the wisdom of not holding resentments for too long because they know that they too can be inconsiderate, self absorbed and an idiot at times. In other words, they place themselves fully in the human family, not above it.
“Know thyself”, so said the man widely regarded as the wisest man in the ancient world, Socrates. A large part of our mind remains hidden from us in the form of our unconscious. Carl Jung makes clear what this can mean: “Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate”. A wise person understands this and places great importance on this fact, they will practice self reflection and self awareness. The wise person will live an examined life, as best they can and will not allow themselves to be pushed around by every thought or impulse that lurches into their mind, only ever acting after examining the thoughts validity.
These are but a few of the characteristics of a wise person, and I will be writing about others, but becoming a wise person is a choice.
Denis Magee 