A few weeks ago, Rabbi Jonathan Sachs passed away. For years, I have religiously read his thoughts, and listened to his speeches; his command of the room, choice of language, and most important to me– his ability to speak to all human beings across all faiths, made him a person I have always looked up to, and aspired to be like.

Every single day, I listen to a 5-minute speech of his, and he opens with something that is so important and poignant.

“Wisdom is free, yet it is the most expensive thing there is. Yet, since we tend to acquire it through failure, disappointment, or grief, that is why we try to share it with others.”

Following up on last week’s thought re: being a parent: As a parent, we would love for our children to not repeat the same mistakes we have made, and that is why we share our wisdom with them. Yet, just as we have had to experience failures to learn our own lessons and to achieve our own wisdom, so to must our children and our loved ones.

I have often sought to understand why it is that only through failure, grief, and disappointment that we are able to achieve wisdom. Why can it not come in other, easier ways?

I am not sure that I have an answer for that. What I do know, is that if I use my failures to learn a lesson, or to be there for others on their journey, to be non-judgmental, and to allow people their own experiences, then they are no longer failures. Reframing my perspective in this way makes it so that the pain I have experienced serves a purpose, and becomes worthwhile.

How do you deal with failure? And for that matter, how do you turn your negative experiences into positive lessons?

This week, let’s be patient with those people we want to learn our lessons and share our wisdom with. Of course, we can share, yet just as we needed to learn our own lessons, let those we love learn their’s too.

Accountability, Community, Unconditional Love

Asher

I want to remind all of you that you can hear more on my podcast, Showing Up. We have lots of amazing shows with interesting guests on a variety of personal development topics. It would be great if you could also rate 5 stars, review and subscribe to the show. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/showing-up-with-asher-gottesman/id1489856285y