Learned Wisdom: Knowledge for my Tribe

As I write this I have lived more than three-quarters of a century. I honestly had no idea when I was young that I would make it this far. Who really thinks in their twenties that they will someday be a father, then a grandfather and maybe a great-grandfather? I sure didn't, and yet here I am and all three have happened. In essence I am the patriarch of a tribe! One thing that aging does for you is it gives you perspective. You have life experiences to evaluate things against, not just impersonal book learning or even the more personal advice given by well meaning friends who may be sincere, but in reality are just as clueless as you are. Many things I thought were true when I was younger I have found were based on the way my family did things, but other families did it differently. Upon inspection and retrospection I have come to the understanding that some things can and should be embraced graciously as merely differences rather than right or wrong. Age also lets you see that, while the culture would have you accept that those differences are all right, there is an Absolute Truth that you must recognize and acknowledge. The purpose of this book is to put in writing some of the things I have learned so that whoever reads this can learn the easy way. I have grouped my thoughts into several sections. In Part 1, I want to address what I call the Foundational Beliefs I have come to recognize. These form a foundation on which the other sections are built. In Part 2, I want to focus on the development of your Character and why that is important. In Part 3, I want to look at what it takes to build a successful marriage. Since we have been in the divorce courts twice but I am still happily married to the same woman after almost six decades, I have learned a lot the hard way that can save you a lot of pain and grief. Then in Part 4, we will look at aging and what I have learned about that subject so far. I hope you will find the information here helpful as you live your life and age. If I can help you avoid some of the potholes in your path, I will consider my efforts and life to have been worthwhile.