Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCLXXVIII

Polygamy is illegal. I just wanted to remind you of that fact in case you were thinking about adding another spouse. You just can't have more than one....at a time, at least. Hopefully you're like me and you're happy with the one you have, but honestly, are there ever times when you feel like throwing up your hands and saying "Life would be so much more simple if I was single?" Well, I don't want to be single, and my wife and I have a great relationship, but if I told you we aIways see eye to eye, I'd be lying, and the times when we don't are not happy times. Now, do you think if you had more than one, you'd be able to get both of them happy at the same time? The likelihood of that happening decreases with each additional spouse. Now let's switch to the topic of "Wisdom." Wisdom comes through the experiences of life and the ability to take what we've learned through those experiences and to apply them to the challenges we're facing today. I love to listen to the words of a man or woman who has accumulated wisdom down through the years as they instruct us on the best ways to navigate life. A sign of youthful wisdom is exhibited when a younger person will listen to and heed those words. Have you ever taken the time to sit down and read the book of Proverbs? It was written by the wisest man ever, King Solomon, who basically had the good fortune to be granted a wish by God, and he used that wish to ask for wisdom. As a result, he also ended up with great wealth because of that wisdom. Do you consider yourself a wise person, or do you sometimes feel that you must've gone to the restroom while God was handing out wisdom? If it's the latter, is it because of some foolish decisions you've made? Have you ever done something so stupid that you just felt like a total idiot? I have, but I've discovered something that gives me hope and makes me feel a little better about myself. To examine it will require going back to the first paragraph. We established the fact that taking more than one spouse to try to care for and please would not be a wise decision, but what if we tried to gain some perspective on that topic from King Solomon, the wisest man ever? If you know much Bible history at all, you will know that he tried more than one wife, but when that failed to make him happy, he tried adding another, and then another, until he ended up with not two, nor three, nor four, but seven hundred wives!! And then to top it off, in addition to all those wives, he added three hundred girlfriends on the side! Can you imagine?! I must tell you, though, that I can read his story and find some reassurance for myself: Sometimes even the wisest among us do some foolish things. Preston