The Price of Wisdom

One of my favorite quotes is Maya Angelou's which says, "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” I've been thinking about the implications of "knowing better."


When we are young and carefree, we act and react without much thought. We respond to the outer world from an egocentric point of view. We are the center of our universe and we react to situations from the perspective of how it affects us. People understand that we are young (and often foolish), and give us some leeway when we make mistakes. But, there comes a time when we become more mindful of the effect our decisions have on the future of ourselves and on others.


We are all interconnected and every action we make affects not only ourselves, but each other and everyone else in some way. The effect might be great or very minute, but nonetheless, there is an effect. Knowing this makes us far more hesitant to make choices willy-nilly. We understand the seriousness of our actions. It causes us to weigh our reactions carefully before executing them. Knowing the seriousness of our actions brings with it the responsibility to make choices that are for the common good.


As we experience life, we endure sorrows and loss. Unfortunate, painful things happen to all of us, and when we lean into those things as a learning tool those experiences can become a gateway to new understanding. That new understanding is the "knowing better" that Maya Angelou speaks of. It is the wisdom that requires that we "do better" for ourselves and all other living things.