Perhaps, you are familiar with the following story. When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world, but I discovered that it was very difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my country. However, that also turned out to be an impossible task. When I found out that I could not change my country, I began to focus on my town. Again, I did not manage to change my town. Then, I tried to change my family. Again, like my other attempts at changing things, I failed. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can do is to change myself. It made me realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on my town. The town’s impact could have changed my country and I could indeed have changed the world.

As I must have made clear by now, to acquire wisdom comes with the desire for self-development. I am not just referring to cognitive processes, but especially to emotional ones. To continue to grow, you will need to become more astute in your emotional management. The ability to express emotions will be very important, but as you may have discovered by now, any emotional excess is bound to stir up trouble. Too much of it will be like smoke getting into your eyes. If you do not blow this smoke away, it will be difficult to see what is really going on. Without emotional astuteness, it will be hard to acquire night vision – that is, to see what is happening under the surface. Without night vision, it will be difficult to make wise decisions.