I have realized that the point of most ignorance on any subject or area of life is before and during the time you are going to do something or are in the process of doing it. But the point of most knowledge on the subject is after you already did it or failed at it. The problem is that you can’t be in both places at the same time. That’s why companies hire consultants. Consultants are usually people who have already done something, saw all the negatives and positives, and can now tell the company how to use their money more wisely so that they won’t make the same mistakes. In other words, successful companies don’t go down a road unless they speak to someone who’s already been down the same road. They do this to protect their money, and to guarantee their success.
My experience has shown me that the dumber you are, the least you like people telling you what to do. So if you want a measuring stick that says how dumb or smart you are, ask yourself how effective you are in receiving help or ideas from other people.
In African societies, it was considered the responsibility of elders to provide wisdom or counsel to young boys and girls. The wisdom provided by elderly men and women was part of the counseling function of the family or society for boys and girls. In other words, the elderly are the consultants of society so that society won’t trip over the same rocks or fall in the same holes like the one prior to us. By following this process, society would progress instead of getting worse. In the society we live in today, we laugh at the counsel of the elderly, we put them in places where we don’t have to listen to them, and though we are in the most ignorant stage (remember, before or during) and they are at the most knowledgeable stage (remember, after they did it or failed at it), we completely ignore their council.
In other words, God has created a way that without us having to pay thousands of dollars for consultants, we have them all around us.
So, sitting and talking to Grand Ma and GrandPa or to our parents just might be the greatest secret to the success of our personal lives. If we try this, we might not have to wish we knew then what we know now.
Leviticus 19:32 – “You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.”
Proverbs 23:22 – “Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
