How does knowledge turn into understanding? Into wisdom?
At face value, we assume that knowledge is the understanding of a concept. It’s as simple as studying a fact until it’s integrated into memory.
While that is true in some aspects, it doesn’t fully cover what it means to make sense of the things we study or experience. In other words, just because we know what something means, doesn’t mean we actually know how it really works.
It’s the combination of both study and experience that shapes our facts into understanding and then into wisdom. It’s not enough to just understand the basic meaning of something, but taking it to the next level and understanding why/how it is that way.
When you think about your experiences in the world, how that’s shaped you into the person you are, it would be easy to identify where you’ve struggled and let that harden you into a bleak bitterness. That’s not how knowledge and understanding turn into wisdom.
Each of these skills and experiences encompass who you are as a person at your core, all shaped by both the hardships and joys that you’ve had in your life – a new test, a new challenge, a new tribulation. But at your core, within your heart is your divine truth.
Experience or skill on their own cannot be the sole thing that shapes you. It’s their combination and the ability to accept things as they’ve happened then move forward for the better.
It’s not about just getting past the hurdle but about accepting its outcomes and figuring out how to navigate with a new understanding of good and bad. Then from there, continue moving forward in the most beneficial way for yourself and others. Move forward versus move on.