Okiksapa

‘Okiksapa’ is a Lakota Sioux word meaning, “to have gained wisdom from experience.”

When I got sober I was looking “to make sense of it all.”  I walked out of a 28-day program at 48 and thought to myself, “What the hell happened?”  After a couple of years I gravitated toward Native American spirituality.  I seem to really relate to their philosophy.

One of the first books I read on the subject was, “The Wisdom of the Native Americans,” edited by Kent Nerburn.  It’s a collection of Indian oration.  I find great comfort in it.  Of note, I was looking for a book on White Man wisdom – there just aren’t any out there today…

While I don’t care to make mistakes, for the most part I have learned from them.  And that’s all we can really ask of ourselves.  When we continue to make the same mistakes over and over, then I suppose we are destined to go through Life as dumb asses.  Just that simple.

I am beginning a ‘series,’ called “Okiksapa.’  These are ‘bits of wisdom’ I have gained from experience.  Some I’ve heard about; others I’ve experienced personally.  They are what the are… and they have helped me along the way.

 

 

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