Even though we have the word, wisdom is complicated to understand. It’s easier to gain knowledge. If I need to know something, I can easily find it in a book. That’s not the case for wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. It comes from our decisions and learning from the consequences, good or bad. Even then, we can make the same mistakes and still not understand. still not gain that experience that we need to keep moving.

We are living in what we are calling the information age. Even with all this information, we haven’t necessarily gotten wiser. There is a plus side to having all this information. We get the ability to learn. The more we learn, the more we realize how much we don’t know. That right there is wisdom.

So, what’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom? The great Lao Tzu probably says it the best. “In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.” When we know to let something go, we become wise. The thing about relieving something is that it will always hurt. Once you know it’s time to remove something that no longer serves you, you are wiser than reading any book. You’re willing to go through that pain. That pain will bring you more wisdom than any book can.