(7/24/2011) Like grandparents everywhere, Barb & I have been blessed with the smartest grandkids in the world.
Like grandchildren everywhere, as they grow up, however, there are times they think they’re a lot smarter than they really are.
When one of our grandkids was 4, his mother was trying to instruct him about something when he felt he was the one who should be instructing her.
“I already know that,” he began.
“Now, there are a lot of things you don’t know yet,” she countered.
I’m not sure exactly how the conversation progressed, but before very long our precocious four year old proclaimed that he was “smarter than God!”
Unfortunately, that’s a misconception all of us occasionally entertain, whether we admit it or not.
The real problem is, very few, if any of us are as smart as we think we are.
Because our perspective is so limited.
Like my grandson, like most teenagers, as we learn more and more, we know that we’re smarter than we were. Since we thought we were really smart then, so we figure we’re really, really smart now.
Unfortunately, as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld infamously pointed out, we don’t know what we don’t know.
There seems to be a vicious cycle moving from failure to humility to learning to success to pride or arrogance back to failure.
Since the start of this millennium I’ve made another loop through that cycle. After two decades of surprising success with a modest portfolio of real estate rental properties, I thought I was smarter than I really was.
So I boldly set out to dramatically enlarge my real estate mini-empire by buying a larger property in another state. Sure, the current owner was having problems, but I was confident I was smarter and more experienced than him. The principals I had learned in Greater Long Beach worked like a charm here, and certainly could be applied with equal success two time zones away.
I conveniently forgot that I’d had huge problems with several of my local properties until I discovered an outstanding Long Beach property management firm.
So, relying on my own understanding of the situation, I bought not just one, but two large out-0f state properties. I was the envy of all my California friends when I told them I’d purchased a 94 unit property in Tennessee by leveraging my profit from the sale of a Lakewood three bedroom rental. And I’d bought another, 56 unit, Tennessee property consisting of 8 two story brick buildings on 5 acres for even less.
It took over four years of blood, sweat, tears, Great Recession, and cash infusions before I finally wised up and unloaded both properties. We took a huge loss, but we stopped the hemoraging of money from California to Tennessee. Our portfolio, thought modest once again, went from barely breaking even to consistent positive returns.
And I learned, once again, a very expensive but very important lesson in humility.
I should have taken King Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 3:5-8:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
The Message paraphrase says pretty much the same thing, but a little more forcefully in some places:
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
I’ve known & loved that passage for years. What part of ”don’t rely on your own understanding” didn’t I get?
Whatever it was, I’m getting it better now.
Fortunately, the seeds of future success are planted in our failures.
Sadly, the seeds of future failures are planted in our successes.
One way or the other, we either learn not to rely on our own understanding, or encounter major failures. Sometimes, great tragedy ultimately results, as we saw this weekend with Amy Winehouse.
So how do we actually apply Solomon’s advice?
What should we rely on if we don’t on our own understanding?
We’ll pick up from here next week, in another Sunday Story: “Wiser than most.”
Related posts:
