I’ve heard this repeated a few times in my life “If I knew then, what I know now, things would be a lot different“. Man this is so true! If I could go back to my twenties, knowing what I know now, I’d definitely would make some changes. Don’t get me wrong, our experiences we go through definitely build character and define who we are. But the book of Proverbs says its better to get wisdom and understanding. Think back to the many times we could have avoided some circumstances if we had just had some wisdom and understanding.
One of the things I struggled with was finances. I had the basic understanding that you needed to work to pay your bills, but I really didn’t succeed at finances until later in life. I guess I kind of skip (or didn’t pay attention) that class during my High School years. It sure would have been a lot easier if someone could have taken me aside and shown me how to work a budget and SAVE money. As it is, with most Americans, we went years living paycheck to paycheck in addition to racking up debt. One day, I ran across an article regarding the concept of delayed gratification. I found it very intriguing! So I decided to put off buying things on credit, work on paying off debt and saving for a rainy day. This really started to change things around, however I still felt unprepared for the future. So I started researching and buying books to help me understand what I needed to do. The 
book of Proverbs encourages us to seek wisdom and understanding. Why? because it will make living life easier (my paraphrasing).
We are living in the information age. Seriously! knowledge is right at our finger tips. We can avoid a lot of the bad experiences we go through, if we would just take the time to learn. Sad to say, I lot of people I talk to are just too lazy to seek out wisdom and understanding for themselves. I’m constantly asking people, Did you search for it on the internet? Or did you try the old fashion way by going to the library? Everyone wants a quick fix or they just want too be told what to do. I found out years ago, that part of living life is the learning process, the discovery of new ideals, learning from others who have been down the same path. It’s a process which continues through all stages of life. Be it finances, marriage, raising children, the list could go on and on, don’t just learn these through experience. Get wisdom! Sure you may miss a few details along the way, but its better than not knowing anything.
One last thing. Wisdom, by definition is the knowledge of what is true or right. The way I see the world has been through much study of the Bible. It’s become the basis by which I evaluate information, be it through books, internet, or just talking with people. You’re welcome to disagree all you want, but believe me there is a lot of bad ideals and wrong teaching out there. So be careful when choosing sources for gaining wisdom.
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