You Can Only Get “Lucky” So Many Times

One benefit of being wise is knowing not to do something ill-advised in the first place. Of course, we often gain wisdom the hard way from our experiences and from our mistakes. Knowing that you have done something that was ill-advised and understanding that you survived or came out of it as well as you did because you were lucky has the potential to make you wiser in the future. Such an experience can dissuade you from acting in a similarly foolish or reckless manner again. But you have to acknowledge the truth of it. You can’t allow yourself to be deceived and to conclude that you came through it okay because you were so experienced, intelligent, skilled, etc. You have to acknowledge that you made a bad decision and that you were fortunate not to suffer the consequences.

You may have done something ill-advised a number of times and gotten away with it. But a wise person understands that the odds will eventually catch up with him or her if he or she continues to make unwise decisions. The wise person understands that the odds will eventually catch up with him or her regardless of how experienced, intelligent, and/or skilled that he or she may be. It can be seductive to fall for the lie that there is something about you that imbues you with some kind of special protection to make questionable decisions. But you have to understand that it comes down to odds and probability. Do something unwise often enough and you may not live to regret it.

Of course, not all decisions present us with potentially life-threatening consequences. But the potential consequences may be life-altering, problematic, or otherwise unpleasant. We would be well-advised to give any decisions that may yield potentially life-threatening, life-altering, problematic, or unpleasant consequenches serious consideration before acting. We would be well-advised in such circumstances to listen to our gut or that little voice in our head urging caution or restraint. Otherwise we may truly gain our wisdom the hard way.