“Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.” ― Howard Nemerov
Recently someone told me that what fools call “wasting time” is usually the best use of time.
In principle, I can get behind that logic. (I would have liked some clarity on his definition of “fool”, but it was just a passing conversation so I’ll probably never know.)
But his remark stayed with with me.
Something was missing; it felt like another shoe needed to drop.
And then it occurred to me: If what fools call wasting time is usually the best use of time then it stands to reason that what the wise call “wasting time” is indeed wasting time.
That makes sense, doesn’t it?
The other day Sonja shared a conversation that she had had with our granddaughter, Trinity. Seems that Trinity had her heart set on a particular car that involved a lot of debt and higher insurance cost. Trinity was absolutely sure she was making a great decision. Sonja shared the account to ask my opinion.
I didn’t need to hear but just a few words and my mind was made up. I knew exactly what to recommend. The moment Sonja said, “Jonathan said…” my mind was made up and my vote was cast.
Like all of us, there are a lot of things that my son-in-law, Jonathan, doesn’t know. But Jonathan, being a master mechanic, knows cars.
Trinity, being a teenage (almost a synonym for omniscience) had all kinds of justification for doing what she wanted to do. But the truth is her wise dad was correct and to ignore him would have been foolish. Thankfully wisdom prevailed.
Here’s the deal, there’s a teenager living in all of us – that little voice that can ignore the evidence and justify our often-suspect rationales.
So what should we do?
Easy – seek out the wise and follow their advice.
Why is that so hard?
The ONE THING for today: Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer. (Proverbs 13:20, NCV)
The ONE THING 