I wasn’t looking for a lesson that day. I was just tired.
We’d spent the morning at a coffee farm outside Da Lat, Vietnam — walking the rows, smelling the roasting beans, talking with the farmers about how they grow at this altitude. On the way back, our driver pulled over at a small Buddhist temple. I almost stayed in the car. My knees were sore from the walking, and I figured it was just another stop on the itinerary.
Then I saw the monkeys.
Three Small Statues, One Old Idea
Three stone monkeys, worn smooth by weather and hands.
One covering its eyes. One covering its ears. One covering its mouth.
I’ve known the phrase “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” since I was a kid. I never thought much about it. It felt like something printed on a souvenir keychain, not something to actually live by.
But standing there, older and with more life experience than I had at 40, it landed differently.
What I Actually Thought About
I’ve spent more than 40 years in the cookware business, raised a family, experienced successes and setbacks, and learned that life rarely goes exactly as planned.

Looking at those three monkeys, I thought about the times I judged someone before I understood their situation. The arguments that got worse because I said something out of frustration instead of staying quiet. The advice I gave that nobody asked for.

Age gives you more memories to draw from. It doesn’t automatically make you wiser with them. That’s something I’ve had to learn the hard way, more than once.
Wisdom Might Be What You Choose Not to Do
Here’s what I keep coming back to: maybe wisdom isn’t about knowing more. Maybe it’s about knowing what to leave alone.
What not to comment on. What not to repeat. What not to say, even when you’re right.
I can’t go back and redo the last 40 years. But I can decide how I handle the years I have left — including how I talk to my wife, my kids, and the people I meet on trips like this one.
That’s really the whole lesson. Nothing more dramatic than that. But it stuck with me for the rest of the day, and it’s still sitting with me now as I write this.

A Question for You

I’m curious. What is something you understood later in life that you wish someone had told you earlier?

For me, those three small stone monkeys in Dalat became an unexpected reminder that growing older is not only about gaining experience. It is also about learning when to listen, when to speak, and sometimes when to simply let something go.

I’d genuinely love to hear your experience in the comments.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

I continue to share what I’m learning through travel, everyday life, and more than 40 years of experience in stainless -steel cookware.

If stories like this resonate with you, I’d be happy to stay connected.

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