Using the information presented in Ch. 10 of your text and other scholarly sources, describes the attributes that are commonly associated with wise people. Identify a person you have known in your life or someone you have never met.

Write a 700- to 900-word paper addressing the following:

• What characteristics of wisdom does this individual possess?

• What makes him or her wise?

• Which of these attributes do you believe you have developed most fully?

• Which do you believe you need to develop more fully in the years to come? Explain.

Reflecting on wisdom

        The person that I identify as being wise is my mother. She passed away several years ago and her wisdom is sorely missed. My mother was, basically, the glue that held the entire family together. Even today, the family sticks together, but, there seems to be some element missing from the picture. Mother possessed several characteristics of wisdom. Creativity was one of the characteristics that I enjoyed the most. She never had a lot of money; yet, she always found a way to get the things she needed, even if it meant finding something old and broken down and restoring it to an almost new appearance. Her creativity always amazed me as a child. When I needed an idea for something I could always count on her. 

       I guess you could say that she had a natural curiosity about things because she would always enjoy trying new things with me and my cousins. In the spring we would all help her to prepare her garden (which she grew every year). Mother wasn't happy with just your traditional garden, she always added some special touches to it that made it fun for us. For instance, she would designate a small patch for each one of us so that we could plant whatever we wanted. It was always exciting to see who's patch would turn out the best. Mother always praised us all for doing a good job no matter how things turned out. 

        My mother was also one of the most open-minded people I have ever known. The reason she was so good at keeping the family strong was because of her open-mindedness. When difficult choices had to be made, she would never make snap decisions. She would always think things over before giving an answer for anything. She was an expert at defusing quarrels between individuals in the family as well. 

        I think that her love of learning is what made her so good at fixing and restoring things. As far as I know she never had any training so I have to assume that she learned it all through trial and error. I guess back when she was growing up, a love of learning would have been a valuable attributed to possess because their survival in those days depended on what they knew and how they did it. 

       My Mother always provided me with wise counsel as well. For this reason I would say that she also possessed the strength of perspective. There were always different people from all around the community we grew up in that came to her when they had problems or needed advice. They knew that she would provide them with an unbiased opinion on whatever the topic was. I never knew her to beat around the bush with anyone. 

     The reason I would say that my mother was very wise is because she overcame tremendous odds in her life. She has done so much for other people (even outside of the family) that she didn't have to bother herself with, but that is just the kind of person she was. People trusted her advice and I cannot remember one person ever telling her she was wrong about something she said or did for someone else. To me, that has to count for something. 

    The attribute that I have developed most fully would be perspective. The reason I say this is because I am always giving counsel to my family. It is practically a full time job to have to help my oldest child understand just how this world works now that he is on his own. He thought he had it all figured out until the first set of bills came rolling in. Since then, I have been his financial advisor (like it or not). 

   The attribute that I need to develop the most in the years to come is open-mindedness. I have a big tendency to do things without looking at them from all sides and it has caused me a lot of grief in the past. I have been working on improving this and have made some pretty big strides in developing this trait. I no longer jump into things without thinking them over first, however, knowing how to thoroughly examining things is a skill that takes time to master.