“Time is the wisest counselor.”
(Pericles)

In 2007, as I signed our new mortgage, I stated there’s no way this could be a bad investment. “Bernanke just said there’s no way the entire U.S. housing market could collapse at the same time!” [Excuse me while I buy my tickets to again see The Big Short, the brilliant film about the 2008 economic collapse]

In 1990, my freshman year in college, I surveyed the morning beverage landscape and brilliantly foretold the following: “Given that, other than my parents, no one I know drinks the stuff, I believe that coffee will die out in my generation.” [Excuse me while I sip my french-pressed Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend, in my mug from the original Pike Place Market Starbucks, while looking at my “Friends” DVD set on the shelf]

Time may not heal all wounds, but it usually does expose all fallacies. That’s why I believe it’s wise to pause, and remember this, whenever our kids make ridiculous, or even painful, pronouncements. Like:
-I’m never gonna like vegetables!; or
-I know you don’t love me, or
-I don’t want to play soccer ever again!, or
-I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!!!

If our kids take an immature stand, one we know they’ll correct eventually, we don’t have to wise them up right that second. Sometimes it’s good to allow them to naturally come to see the error on their own.

Similarly, I also believe it’s wise to pause, and be gracious with ourselves, whenever we realize things we used to be certain of are simply no longer true. It’s okay to be wrong, even boldly so—that’s a large part of gaining wisdom over time.

Besides, who knows? Sometimes we actually get it right…

In 1989, when I first kissed a 17 year-old blonde beauty named Jenny Faulk, I stated out loud “I know this sounds crazy, but I want to marry you and love you till I die.” [Excuse me while I kiss that beautiful woman, now Jenny Runkel, on her way out the door this morning].