Wisdom and Stages of Life

Psychologist Erik Erikson's last stage of life is called Wisdom - Ego Integrity vs. Despair. In that stage, people must made sense of all the disparate strands of experience that made up their lives, or else be condemned to despair and a sense of failure.

The strands of our experiences include all those that we actually chose, the ones that were the result of decisions by others, and the ones that were apparently the work of chance, fate, or divine intervention. In each of these categories, there are experiences that we consider good or favorable, and those that we view as the opposite. Our challenge is in resolving the intense feelings that we have about these different experiences, and in reaching an understanding of how they fit together.

This is why I think that the essence of wisdom is the ability to be fully present in your life; to resolve the struggle of regret and longing and to accept your life as valid, meaningful, and joyful as it is up to this point; even with the inevitable pain and suffering that are part of it. It helps to have a framework to integrate the pieces and the feelings they generate.

What has helped me tremendously is this idea of bringing together the ancient concept of wisdom with the social scientific concept of competencies or life skills. I call it SOPPHIA- The 7 Dimensions of Wisdom. 'S' is for self-awareness and self-management. 'O' is for understanding of others and managing relationships. 'P' is for purpose. The other 'P' is for presence; the importance of being present. 'H' is for health in mind, body an spirit. 'I' is for innovation, the ability to use creativity to generate value or wealth. 'A' is for assurance for faith; the ability to persevere beyond reason in the face of obstacles. Sophia, spelled with one 'p' is the Greek word for wisdom.

So does this mean that you can't be wise until you get past middle age? Of course not. We all know of wise children and old fools. It has something to do with statistics and with the immeasurable. Older people may have a higher probability of being wise; assuming that they are still mentally intact. But the Book of Isaiah says that a little child shall lead them.