Gary John Bishop - Wise as Fu*k

Wisdom gets your shit together. It allows you to bring some fresh perspective and cuts a clear pathway through the morass of life.

W hatever your shitstorm is, at least one thing is clear. No one ever showed you how to handle this.

Wheres the clarity or peace of mind or hell, just an inkling of what the fuck to do when life has crept up out of nowhere, kicked you right in the mouth, and now youre stopped dead in your tracks?

How are you supposed to sort through the mess or ease the anxiety or awaken the slumbering possibilities of your life while at the same time combating the daily press of your job situation, your relationships, your family, your body, your past, your future, and whatever else you want to throw in the mix like, oh, I dont know, some sort of global super-virus pandemic or something?

The truth is, were painfully ill equipped for the storms and crashes that can happen to any of us.

Its not like we want to be flailing around in the chaos! No one aches to be anchored to the same cycle of a toxic relationship or a stifling career or to the painful reminders of love or failure or fear that we know all too well. We just want to move our lives forward, we want to know how to live our lives without the mysteries and confusions and complications. In short, we want help to make life better; we just dont know where to find this help, or how to make the right decision.

When life starts going wrong, of course it would be a lot easier if you could simply ask Alexa, plot your next genius move, and smoothly tiptoe into the future with your devastatingly smart use of Amazon products on standby for whatever comes next. Playlist, check, alarm, check, dictionary definition, check, how to handle your years-long burning resentments or dream-crippling procrastinations or need to make a life-altering decision on the fly... dammit, Alexa, show me some love!

Hey, maybe its all in the diet, so perhaps I could interest you in a generous sprinkling of some tasty ancient, comforting wisdom on your avocado toast in the morning to help you navigate the day?

Yeah... no, not that either. It seems when were most tested, were least wise. The wisdom pantry is, unfortunately, mostly bare when you are starving for that all-knowing nutrient to help you powerfully take on whichever life-sucking situation is currently gnawing at the pit of your gut in any given moment.

Apparently youre supposed to make it up as you go along in the vain hope that one day youll eventually stitch together some kind of useful life skills to manage your troubles and keep you in good order for whats to come. In the meantime, get your struggle on, Susan, and oh, yeah, keep that suffering silent, were trying to be positive over here.

Yet weve all had those days.

Well, sometimes its weeks.

Or months.

In some cases it has lasted so long its hard to see anything else. The shitstorms of life can become so persistent theyre just that. Life. The skies are gray and thats just how it is. Bring your brolly.

So we get on with it. None the wiser.

None the wiser? But I AM wiser from my life experiences!!

Not quite. If you think about it, Im never going to do that again isnt really wisdom, is it? That can just be put down to good practice in life. My five-year-old has that down already and hes... well, hes five.

Nor is it a practice that applies to everything either. Its okay never to stick your hand onto a burning stove again, but the implications of never exposing yourself to love or opportunity or risk again can be devastating. You can become caged, trapped by your own doing. A dumbed-down, bored/scared out of your freaking mind version of yourself. Not so wise now, huh?

Simply put, you, like most people, take the completely wrong approach to both acquiring wisdom and then having it make a difference in the nitty-gritty of your life. Try on the idea you are looking for something to attach to your life, some insight or guidance or one-size-fits-all strategy that you can just plug in that will magically undo whatever shitshow youre currently starring in.

Lets set the record straight here.

Thats not how wisdom works.

DEFINING WISDOM

I define wisdom as a personal set of truths, a collection of perspectives that become the foundations of your thinking and that you come back to throughout the twists and turns of your life to guide you. These truths not only give you clarity as youre making decisions, coming to crossroads, and trying to figure out which path to take, but they also make your next steps appear as obviously as your next breath.

Why do you need wisdom in your life? Well, first, if youre asking yourself that question and youve purchased a book called Wise as Fu*k, thats probably a bit of a clue!

But seriously, wisdom is something we all rely on from time to time, its that all-knowing nugget of life that you either learned through lived experience or in a book or course or conversation.

Ill give you a simple example of the kind of wisdom Im talking about and how it works right here: Have you ever heard the phrase you have the life youre willing to put up with?

Be with those words for a minute. As you let them sink in, think about and compare your own life to the statement and how youre currently living. What do you see there? At some point there will be something for you to consider or reconsider when you apply this wisdom to how you live.

Theres a lot in those ten simple words, but they irretrievably put you in the spotlight, dont they? When you look at them its hard to wriggle out of taking ownership of your life and how its going. They bring to mind a view of life that demands you work your stuff out for yourself, to tolerate or procrastinate no longer. They root you to a truthif youre willing to adopt them as your own, that is. This uncomplicated statement deals with any temptation for blame or gossip or victimizing oneself or others. Try it out if youre ever faced with a situation where you want to blame someone for whats going wrong. I dare you to turn to this statement. Heres what will happen. It will tell you what to do.

And thats how wisdom works, by this process of first understanding, adopting as your own, and then applying to your real life. Keep this critical process in mind as we navigate these pages together. You are your own hero, but you could just as easily turn yourself into the one who constantly needs to be rescued. Good wisdom will end those days. It puts you back in charge of your life, your future. You get to create the life you want. No one else can take that from you. Isnt that empowering?

If wisdom comes from a set of internal, guiding truths, how do you determine what those truths are for you?

Lets broach this process of thinking first. Have you ever pondered something? I dont mean just a fleeting thought, or just a brief reflection. Have you ever sat with an idea or a question long enough to open it up for yourself in new ways such that you taught yourself something? Your own personal aha. A proper discovery.

Thats the beginning of where the wisdom in this book will take root in your life. From your own inquiry, the kind of introspection and retrospection that enlivens and enlightens, inspires and invigorates an otherwise stodgy and numb existence. The cool thing is, real wisdom can never be undone, because when you discover something for yourself, such as a thunderous, penetrating discovery, you cannot undiscover that thing. But it doesnt stop with the discovery. You take it on by consciously adopting it, then plow straight into your life and live from it. Thats what makes it so distinct from knowledge. Just about anyone can read something, maybe even memorize it too, but not everyone is learning from it and then living from what theyve learned.