Three things wise people do differently in times of crisis
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 Wisdom isn't something that just happens--it's something a person must cultivate. Many people grow wiser as they grow older. Others just become more foolish.
It's fascinating to see how the wisdom literature--Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job and so forth--is confirmed by modern academic research.
Among other things, this research shows clear differences between the way wise people and unwise people cope with difficult times.
Learning about wisdom from older people
Monika Ardelt is a professor of sociology at the University of Florida. She enjoys thinking about what happens as people age. Much of her research is morbid--literally. Her articles have titles like "The importance of religious orientation in dying well" and she's published in books with titles like Death and Dying.
It seems morbid to study morbidity, but Monika's research is actually quite cheerful. She's concerned that people live wisely all the way to the end of their lives.
Along the way Monika has discovered that people don't necessarily grow wiser as they grow older. She's studied many older people who are wise, but she's also studied folks who she graciously describes as "relatively low wisdom" respondents.
A decade ago Monika developed a three-dimensional wisdom scale that consisted of a questionnaire with 39 questions.
About a year after giving the questionnaire to 180 older adults, Monika contacted several respondents who had scored as "relatively high wisdom" and "relatively low wisdom." Monika's team then interviewed these respondents to ask what they did to cope with unpleasant events.
Wise people react very differently in crisis
Those in the "relatively high wisdom" category seemed to have three strategies to cope with unpleasant events:
1. They mentally distanced themselves from the situation by taking a step back to relax and calm down. One respondent said, "Usually, if I'll relax and give whatever the problem is some thought, don't try to solve it right then...it'll just come to me and work itself out."
2. They actively coped with the challenge by doing whatever needed to be done and could be done. Typically these folks redefined the problems as interesting challenges or puzzles. By reframing the situation they gained the ability to do what they had the power to do and stop worrying about things they didn't have the power to change.
3. They applied the life lessons that they had learned. The relatively high wisdom respondents understood that life is unpredictable and uncertain. They learned to trust in God and heed the advice of others who had been through tough times.
In contrast, Monika writes, the relatively low wisdom respondents
did not engage in mental distancing when they encountered crises and obstacles in life. They did not reflect on the situation and did not try to deal with a crisis in an active manner. This basically left them with two passive coping strategies: they could either choose to accept the situation or hope that god would intervene on their behalf. As a consequence they did not learn from their experiences, did not gain wisdom and insight into the nature of life, and remained extremely vulnerable and defenseless when experiencing extreme hardship in life.
Both wise and unwise people may trust in God--but there's a difference
Interestingly, many of the respondents in both categories talked about their faith in God, but those with a higher level of wisdom seemed to accept the fact that God wanted them to do all that was in their power to help things get better, whereas those with a lower level of wisdom talked about God in the same way that many non-believers talk about fate: "Whatever will be, will be. There's no point trying."
Clearly, we can learn from these wise individuals about how to make it through tough times. We can trust God for a clearer perspective, do what is in our power to do, listen to the wise counsel of others, and stop worrying about things that are truly outside of our control.
Monika concludes the article with an encouragement we can all embrace. The relatively wise elders in the study "perceived the past with gratitude, tried to be of service in the present, and were aware of the responsibility they had toward the future."
[Monika Ardelt, "How Wise People Cope with Crises and Obstacles in Life," ReVision, Summer 2005, v. 28, n. 1, pp. 7-19] |
