Have you ever heard anyone say, “Wouldn’t it be great to go back in time to high school and re-live those days knowing what we know now?”

I’ve always thought, “No way!”

If I could take my hard-won experience back in time, it wouldn’t be to high school.  Maybe to college.  At least then I’d be an adult and I could apply that knowledge to something useful.  High school was a pretty crazy time.  I didn’t know who I was yet, and no one around me knew who they were either.  Getting stuck there with the wisdom and experience of an adult would probably drive me nuts.

There are no shortcuts to wisdom, and that’s probably a good thing.

One ancient proverb says:

Wisdom is knowing when not to do something stupid.

Wisdom is gained through experience after doing something stupid.

We can’t go back in time, but enough wisdom has been shared this month to prevent us from wasting a whole lot more time than we might have to if we all had to learn it all the hard way.  I’d like to thank everyone who participated this month.  Writing is a long-term commitment and the journey is rarely a simple cruise with smooth sailing.  Then again, it’s from those struggles of life that we glimpse the greatest truths and learn the hard-won lessons that really matter.  Hopefully now we understand a little better how to pick our battles.

Thanks to the excellent guest bloggers this month.  Mark Leslie, Bobbi Schemerhorn, Lisa Mangum, Brian Herbert, and Peter Wacks.

At the beginning of the month, I suggested we’d hear some great advice, and this month’s posts exceeded my expectations.  I hope you enjoyed the outpouring of hard-won wisdom and can apply some of it to your life and/or your writing.

Write on.