Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that a tomato doesn’t belong in a fruit salad.

Miles Kington is often given credit for this gem of a proverb, and today, it’s got me thinking about how it applies to my own stuff. And here’s what I’ve come to:

Identifying and knowing our patterns of self-destruction is, at best, half the battle. But APPLYING that knowledge to our lives is wisdom, and is where the healing work really happens.

So, I don’t mean to diminish the value of self-discovery and awakening in anyway – because, in my experience, knowledge is certainly power. But we must, we must, we MUST harness and engage that power that knowledge gave us, enact it on our own lives, and free ourselves from the chains of our trauma and self-destruction.

This takes time and this takes practice.

Living with wisdom in regards to our hurt and toxicity is not the same as the momentary realization that brought the knowledge of those patterns in the first place.

It will require exposure to our triggers, and opportunities to steward our hearts and our efforts and our bodies wisely instead of the ways we have habitually done so in the past.

It’s hard work and will undoubtably consume way more than its “half” of the battle.

But on the other side of that applied knowledge, on the other side of wisdom is freedom.