It is important to have the virtue of wisdom primarily because it will lead one to a better path. I have better understanding of wisdom today because of the information I have learned form the past. Wisdom is the blessing that one have to grow as an individual. Many people are intelligent but being wise is a gift. One can learn many things from books, internet or from the experiences of other people but wisdom is the knowledge of an information and a better understanding to it. One becomes wiser and wiser from all the experiences that he has and from all the challenge that life throws him. It is becoming of an individual to get wiser through his journey in life. My understanding of wisdom grew wiser as the course progresses. One’s capacity to understanding things is evidence that one is also wiser of all the things that surrounds us. It is a challenge for a better discernment in life as one go to a process of learning and understanding. Thus, the wisdom one acquires from all his experiences is one way for acquiring wisdom.
The depth of my understanding of wisdom has indeed become wider as my knowledge also grew wider. It is important to gain knowledge on the things we study and from the things, we learn from other people. We get knowledgeable from others experiences and most especially from our own experiences. We gain wisdom from it and the ability to make good judgment. It is also important to use our wisdom in good use and as well as to share it to other people. The gift of wisdom enables us to have a perspective that leads us to a good discernment of good and bad. From time to time, we get the chance to learn many things, things that influence us in one way or another and that contributes to the development of out character and attitudes toward life. Probably, wisdom also defines the ability of an individual to handle situation that are new or difficult to handle. Life itself is offering us wisdom and it is our own ability to embrace it and treasure. I understand that wisdom is our shield to harsh reality of life and definitely, create a bridge of understanding from all things. Better judgment concludes to better understanding hence wisdom.
Part II.
In the same way that we acquire wisdom from our learning’s is also the ability to acquire happiness and meaning. The relationship between happiness and meaning is their correlation to life. One becomes happy through his search of the meaning of life. One life’s has purpose and this purpose is the meaning of life. You become happy through your purpose or meaning of life. As said in Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, “we can discover the meaning of life in three different ways: by doing good deed, by experiencing a value, and by suffering.” It is true then that we discover the meaning of life as we do good deeds for the people around us as we realize there value and importance. Our experience of value of our own self is our discovery to the meaning of our own life. If people treat us good, we then realize or value as a person.
From another author’s point of view of happiness, Aldous Huxley “derives happiness from consuming mass-produced goods, sports such as obstacle golf and centrifugal bumble-puppy, promiscuous sex…” Thus, Huxley gave examples of other sources of happiness and finding meaning in life. There are individual or group of people who may find happiness in these material things. While Socrates view on happiness depends on one self as he has the choice to be evil or to be virtuous. In addition, Socrates
correlates happiness to virtue for one can be happy by being virtuous as well. Socrates believes that wisdom is an important component of happiness. He believes that it is important t go through life reflectively as to understand the life that we are living and the life that we need to go through. It is also important that we discuss out virtue to other people as to remind us of the meaning of our life.
An American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau was a poor man. His views about happiness and meaning of life are questionable because of his status in life as a poor man. Many would correlate happiness in how rich they become and Thoreau is one of the best example of happiness, for Thoreau lived his life as a poor man yet he knows what happiness is and what the meaning of life is. While Josef Pieper, a Thomist defends his view of happiness only to be found in contemplation.
Among all the views, Socrates has explained well the meaning of happiness, how one will find happiness as well as to find the meaning of life. Being happy is also being contented of what you have. Material things is part of our life and many would relate their selves to material things however the true essence of happiness is in our own view of life and how we understand the meaning of it. Life may throw us hardships and difficulties but our beliefs and/or virtue will help us to find meaning in life. Socrates believed that in order to be happy one should be righteous. He also believes that one cannot be virtuous, if one is not wise. In that sense, we learn that in order to be happy, we should understand first our value as a person. We understand it through our discernment hence wisdom. As we go through life, we find also find the meaning of it and understand that happiness is found within us. Our acceptance of the things around us also helps us
for better understanding to life and leads, us to happiness the each one of us needs. Material things are part of one’s life bit it may not necessarily be the root of our happiness. Indeed, it is our own wisdom that we realize the connection of happiness to the meaning of life.
Part III.
Huxley views about happiness correlates with the material things. This I guess mislead our understanding to the real essence of happiness and might lead us to the conclusion that happiness is only found in the material things that we have. As the saying goes, money is the root of all evil things. Yes, we need things in order to survive in life but it should not be a basis or the only basis of our happiness. Happiness can also be found from the people around us and from all the experiences that we had and will have eventually. Temptation is just around the corner, our wisdom will help us get through this temptation, and the virtues that we have will lead us to understanding of happiness.
My perception of happiness is that an individual should reflect on his life and all the things around us. Simple things leads to greater things and as we realize the value of simple things, we being to understand the value of life and our own life. It is important to appreciate the things around us the favors the people do for us for it will give us the judgment of how wonderful life can be if we are righteous and wise. We relate happiness and meaning differently depending on our understanding but our own life will help us understand that happiness is found in the meaning of our own life. As we search for our meaning, we also pass the road to happiness and appreciation of life. We go through life’s journey for happiness and for our purpose and meaning.
References
- Beebe, J. R. (2003). Socrates on Prozac and Happiness.
- Huxley, A. (1932). Brand New World. Penguin Modern Classics.
- Frankl, V. E., (1946). Man search for meaning. Washington Press Square.