For the majority of us, we gain wisdom from our experiences throughout our lives. Wisdom is very different than intelligence. Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment, all rolled into one. And then being able to apply it. Most of us have met people who are extremely smart but somehow have not been able to learn from their experiences.
Intelligence without wisdom can be very destructive to a person. This is when the clever mind emerges and you are not open to hearing or learning from others, even when they are trying to help you. “You can’t tell me what to do!” becomes a regular mantra, or, “I already know that!” Humility has no place to call home in this state of consciousness. The ego and arrogance has started to run amok and the seeds of wisdom cannot start growing.
This is why the mind of the addict becomes their worst enemy and they seem to always repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Different day, same thing, over and over again.
The mind of the addict will convince himself/herself that this time it will be different, that they will be able to (fill in the blank) even though they have repeated the same pattern trying to get different results day after day. Some insidious, insane logic now takes over and becomes their new narrative.
To justify this insane logic, you stop listening to reason and come up with some distorted, irrational idea that is not rooted in truth or logic. Here is what that might look like.
I was sitting up in a tree with a pair of binoculars and a walkie talkie watching the crack house with the idea that I was going to be compensated at the end of the night. But if I had not been smoking crack that night I would not have been in the tree! I would have gone to work and made my money. But I did not want to wait for my money. That was my great idea at the time. Did I get any money? NO. Not from the crack house and not from my job.
If the evidence is contrary to the condition, there is a problem. That is why they use evidence in any court case to dispel the doubt. Look to the evidence to find the truth of the situation.