10 Ways to Know You Are A Fool or Acting Foolishly

Recently, I was eating in a restaurant when an argument broke out among three young men who were also eating at the nearby table. In the midst of the hot exchange, one of the embittered young men insulted the other: “You are a fool!” The insulted fellow angrily asked the offender whether he was really a fool or acted foolishly. The offender repeated his words several times that the other party was a stupid fool. Luckily, the issue was resolved among them.

As I sipped my drink and pondered over the whole thing, I asked myself several questions about how one can know that he or she is a fool or acting foolishly. The following are my findings. Kindly tell us your views or experiences in life on this topic when you are done reading.

10 Ways to Know You Are A Fool

1. When you are repeatedly told that you are a fool

One of the simplest ways to know that you are a fool is to check whether people repeatedly tell you that you are a fool as a result of your actions or inactions. It is not a matter of hearing such insulting words once or twice but repeatedly from different groups of people altogether. This should give you a clue that you might be acting foolishly since such words are coming from different people who analyzed your actions or inactions and hurled such insulting words at you.

2. When you personally admit several times that you are a fool or act foolishly

There have been several times that people openly admit that they have acted foolishly in a matter. The second way to know whether you are a fool or have been acting foolishly is to ask yourself whether you really find yourself behaving in such manner. There have been several instances that people will never tell you in your face that you are a fool. That will be too much of a serious insult to be hurled at you but they will create their own perceptions about you.

Most of the times, your foolishness might be discussed in your absence but never in your presence. If you are lucky, someone among the people who discussed your foolish acts might approach you and suggest a more sensible way of handling some issues or similar issues.

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3. You act upon anything you hear without thinking for judgment and later regret

Know that you are really acting foolish if you act upon anything at all that you hear without thinking twice to weigh the issue, verify some truth and subject it to critical scrutiny. You must not accept on wholesale anything at all you hear. It will be expedient to do a follow up and verify for yourself. Your inability to think twice and deeper to ascertain the truth makes you easily susceptible to fall prey to any scam and fraudulent activity.

Example: Someone tells you that your boss has sent him to come for $1000 from you to be taken from the company’s account and without thinking twice to verify from your boss, you dish out the money to the person upon merely hearing that it was your boss that has instructed him to come for the money. Wisdom is taking the time and the pain to ask from your boss and seek his expressed concern either written or verbal.

4. Just believe anything you are told

If you are the type that believes just any trivia thing without deciphering what you are being told is a lie or just meant to defraud you then you should know that you are likely to be taken as a fool. And of course, April fool can really work against you. We are living in a time where knowledge abounds and is the buzzword in our generation. Let knowledge guide your path from any deceptive activity which will render you to act foolishly.

5. You have history of many deceptive activities

Take a stock of your life and check whether you are constantly deceived. This should give you a clue that some people are capitalizing on your weakness as a fool and deceiving you just to get what they want. Let your past teach and advice you but not to make you bitter or act in ways to tarnish your reputation.

6. You easily leaked out your topmost secrets to just anyone you meet

The problem with many people is that they cannot differentiate between issues that must be kept secret and issues that must be in the public domain. If you are such that you easily tell people your highly sensitive secrets even upon first time of meeting then know that you are a fool.

7. Cheapening, Devaluing Yourself and Causing Chaos

It is only the fool that does or says things that will cheapen, devalue and make people look down on him. Prov. 29:9 equates anyone who does these things as well as causing chaos to be a fool. Wise people make peace but fools cause chaos.

8. Foolish utterances

One of the ways to know you are a fool apart from your actions or inactions is through your utterances; the words you speak. If you notice it from your words or people frequently tell you that your statements are foolish, then note that you are becoming foolish. (Further reading: Prov. 18:2).

It is important to note that the words that proceed out of your mouth are sometimes a summary of your personal values and virtues in life. The words you speak give an idea to people whether you are wise, sensible, knowledge or acting foolish. The wisdom here is that, let it be known clearly when you are joking and when you are serious about some issues otherwise, people will always judge and perceive your act as foolish.

Remember, in Luke 6:45, the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. It therefore means that you will talk foolish if you are a fool. Ironically, some people try to act and play the foolery just to entertain others but end up tarnishing their own images. Do not please men and displease yourself.

9. Controlling others through anger

Anyone that tries to control people through anger is a fool according to Prov. 29:11. If anger and threats are your weapons or leadership tools as a manager or boss, then know that you have a weak character and you are acting foolish. Leadership is all about reasoning to influence people for positive results but not shouting, insulting and use of threats or dismissal to control your subordinates.

10. Seeing Danger and Taking No Action

It is only the fool that sees real danger and takes no action. If you are always battling with avoidable problems all because you are careless and take no action, then know that you are acting foolish. Be proactive! Make sure you take make decisions and take the right actions to avoid all the avoidable problems more especially those that are repetitive in nature.

Thanks for reading this article. Kindly tell us your views of how to know you are a fool.

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