For many, a good education is viewed as something only certain people can receive. It is one of those things valued in the American culture. Maybe because it is considered rare. Those who have more tend to have a better quality of life. In fact, there was a study done in Denver that found that low education levels were a direct link to lifespan.[i] In this age of technology, knowledge is literally at our finger tips. But is that enough?
Knowledge alone is not education in its fullest. Wisdom must be in tandem with knowledge to be considered a true education and to make a positive impact on a person’s life. So, what are knowledge and wisdom? My neighbor plainly defined and differentiated the two. He said that knowledge is the “what” and wisdom is the “how”. In other words, we gain facts about a certain subject to increase in knowledge and learn how to apply it to grow in wisdom. When one puts the facts and skill together, they become educated in that area.
I love to learn. Geeky or not, some of my favorite things to watch on TV are documentaries. We can learn so much about the world around us in the comfort of our own home with a good documentary. In the past ten years I have watched many documentaries on nutrition. I have learned so much about the needs of our bodies and why good food choices are necessary for a healthy life. My interest in nutrition didn’t come out of nowhere. Nor did someone push it on me because they knew I’d need to know about it someday. Circumstances in my life led me to finding out more about why nutrition is so important.
I grew up in a large traditional family where my father worked and my mother stayed at home with my brothers, sisters and I. My parents where amazing and sacrificed so much for their children. The food bill was the highest bill of the month because feeding 8 children took a lot of money. The best way to make the dollar stretch was to buy the prepackaged processed food. It filled our tummies and we as kids liked the taste. (I have since realized how nasty that stuff is.) As a result, and in addition to other factors, I gained weight. By 5th grade I was a chunky kid. My weight problem persisted the rest of my growing up life into my twenties. My weight effected my self-esteem and I developed major body issues. By the time I hit my later twenties I had flipped the other way. I was losing weight rapidly through constant exercise, very limited food intake, and the occasional food purging. I was heading towards anorexia. I had a problem.
With education so available to us, why do people not take advantage of such opportunities? One reason is insecurity. We are insecure when we do not feel safe in particular situations, usually within our own thinking. The ironic thing is that insecurities stem from the lack of education. I have noticed powerful insecurities in my own life. My eating disorder is one example. I lacked the knowledge, skills and tools to address my problem and thus headed down the wrong path. In my career, I have seen how education is power. The more you can understand and figure out, the better off you will be. When a person lacks education, they are not as effectively able to accomplish a task. This ineffectiveness leads to lack of confidence which then can result in a deficiency of motivation and the task not getting completed. There is then no growth and the insecurity that is impeding safety does not get resolved. We are left stuck. So, instead of gaining power from knowledge and application we allow our insecurity to gain power over us.
I heard a story once where a college professor was trying to prove this point to his class. He asked one of his students to come up and sit at the piano. He then put music in front of him and asked him to play as if his life depended on it. The student look lost and a bit frustrated. He looked up at the professor and told him that he couldn’t play the music. The professor asked why not. The student then replied that he had never learned. Without the knowledge and skill the student was powerless. He was subject to his lack of education. In other words, he was stuck.
The best way to regain power in your life is to educate yourself. As mentioned before, education goes beyond learning the facts. Instead of just knowing that 1+1=2 we must know why it equals two and how we are going to apply it in our lives. We must learn to think critically and how to solve our problems. Gaining knowledge is the easier part. One way we can increase our knowledge is the traditional way with schooling. In America, children are offered tuition free education. And there are many ways we can affordably attend post-secondary schooling. So, the opportunity is there, we just have to buckle down take it.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is where a lot of people stop in their education. They have no idea what to do with the information they acquired. So, they end up not doing anything with it and it gets lost. Also, wisdom takes time and diligence. You must live and apply your learning to experiences to gain wisdom. In the example of 1+1=2, a person must experience it in their life. I teach my little kindergartners that if they bought a piece of candy at the store and then someone gave them a piece, they would then have two pieces of candy. The wisdom develops when they think critically. They must ask themselves if two pieces of candy are too much. Or, “if I already bought a piece of candy do I really need the one my friend gave me?” This is when 1+1=2 becomes more than just knowledge because they understand what to do with it and apply it in their lives.
Obviously life is more complicated than simple math facts, but the concept of education is the same. Many people tend to be lazy and place the blame and responsibility on others for their learning and problems. Rather, it is their responsibly to take action. I learned that first hand with my eating disorder. I could have easily blamed my parents, leaders, teachers, and the list goes on for not teaching me how to eat properly. But the blame was not theirs, it was mine. I was the one with the problem and I was the one who needed to figure what to do about it. So that is exactly what I did. In addition to my own research through documentaries and books, I reached out to friends and leaders for help. I went to my primary care doctor and she referred me for counseling. I didn’t have to do it alone. There were people to help. And through the application of my knowledge from experiences, I was able to recover.
I believe the findings in the Denver study are accurate. People with higher levels of education do have a better quality of life. But I’m not just talking about people with multiple college degrees. I’m also talking about people who seek out knowledge and then apply it to life. These people, in my book, are those who know what life really is and how to use what they know to their advantage. The amazing thing: education is not something only certain people can have. It is available to all. You just have to put forth the effort. And when you do put for the effort, this is when education really is powerful. Because the more you know and apply the less you will fear. And when fear is taken out of the equation, you will be unstoppable.
[i]
Ivins, Jessica (2015, July 9). Low education levels just as hazardous to your
health as smoking, study reveals [News Report]. Accessed on August 25, 2018 at https://www.ksl.com/article/35426534/low-education-levels-just-as-hazardous-to-your-health-as-smoking-study-reveals
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