FORMAL EDUCATION OR KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

by Ronald Reeker

When I was growing up and going to school, I was taught that I should plan to go to college, because that was the way to be successful in life if I was going to amount to anything.

I did go to college and graduate like most people, but later in life and looking back, I wish I had made other decisions.

While college was a great experience for me, and one of the reasons for going to college was that it opened many doors for me as far as employment and working for someone else. 

I realized later in life that the information taught in college was a very small part of my success.

Most of the knowledge and wisdom I learned was from people who first never went to college, and were influential in my becoming who I am today.

While formal education can help you get a job, it takes knowledge and wisdom to make a life.

My dream and goal was to make a better life.

This is the average or norm for most people in America living from day to day working for someone else.

I wanted to be better than ordinary or average.

The people who inspired me the most and made my life the most successful were not formally educated in the traditional schools and colleges.

I learned a great principle that knowledge and wisdom can come from people who most people would normally not listen too. 

Most people think that unless you have the college degrees you are not that important. 

I can definitely state from my experience that statement is totally inaccurate. 

Some of the people I have met over the years have been more influential in my success than those who had college degrees and thought they were the experts. 

As I look back at my life, I think knowledge and wisdom come more not from colleges, but from people who have had life experiences, and they can help you become more of a success in life, than those who went to college. 

The moment you decide not to follow someone's advice or wisdom because you think it is not important, or they are not important enough, is the time you may miss that opportunity to be more successful in your life.

I have learned that everyone in your life is important, and you can learn more from them if you just take the time to listen.

I have learned a great lesson in life that knowledge and wisdom are more important than a formal education.