FIRST—TRY HARDER—Just work harder, longer, more.  Most Americans are in this group.  Times are tough.  Times are uncertain.  Hold onto what you’ve got.  If you have a job, do anything to keep it.  If you have to, get a second job.  Sacrifice (even your dreams) to put food on the table and pay bills.  Hope things get better.  Don’t waste your limited time and energy to think about things you can’t do anything about anyway.

SECOND—TRY SMARTER—Work smarter, not harder.  Pick the best advisor and learn how to beat the system.  Get a job that is recession-proof.  Make only guaranteed investments.  Learn from others’ mistakes.  Play your cards right, and you don’t have to sacrifice.  Believe in yourself.  Be confident.  Don’t share all your secrets, and you’ll come out ahead.

THIRD—TRY WISER—Wiser is usually confused with working harder and working smarter and believing in yourself.  Truth is, wiser includes working hard and working smart, but not depending on yourself for success.  “Wiser” is not even a common word these days because it suggests principles from outside ourselves.  It implies learning something from older people—people that younger folks may not consider successful.

This calls for another paragraph.  In America we’ve gone for half a century of progress, mostly smooth sailing, and a universally accepted formula:  get a good job, get good stuff, get good insurance, get a good retirement, it’s yours because you earned it, enjoy it because you deserve it.

There have been very few glitches to this pattern for most people, until now.  We hear that the current economic policies are unsustainable, yet individuals seem to have few choices for fundamental change.  If the whole system blows, we’ll just deal with it then.  In the meantime, we try harder and think we’re trying smarter.

So, where does this leave trying wiser?

If we took time to stop, sit, and listen to older people who learned contentment apart from the current focus on finance, we would be better prepared for the days ahead.  The greatest challenge for older people is finding anyone who will appreciate their wisdom, receive it, and apply it.

If you find a person who has learned to live out “Godliness with contentment,” do everything you can to build a relationship with that person and spend a lot of time with him/her.

If you find a person who can honestly say, “Having food and clothing, let us be content,” choose to let that person influence you.

Greater speed does not contribute to wisdom.

Hard work may contribute to wisdom.

Smart does not equal wise.

“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”