Virtue - Wisdom

My Lakota virtue was Wisdom, I feel that this is a virtue that suits me well because while I'm not always smart, I'm wise in my actions (as I am told by others). I know what to do with the information I know and I know when it is best to simply do nothing. This virtue is important to the Lakota people because it shows that you have one of the major qualities needed to become a leader in that culture, or possibly even the head of the tribe. In the book we read, The Lakota Way, the story about wisdom was about a grandfather and his grandson trudging through the harsh winter snows and the grandson proposes they take a shortcut through the gully to make it home faster. The grandfather says that it would be a bad idea but the grandson goes forward anyways and into the gully. His grandfather comes up to the edge of the gully to find a hole in the snow and throws a rope down to where he knows his grandson is waiting. After he pulls his grandson out of the hole, the grandson asks if his elder is wise. The grandfather then explains that to be wise, you must know what to do with the information you posses, to know what to do, what not to do, and when it is best to do nothing.

"I learned the same lesson in the same way. My grandfather pulled me out of the same gully."