You know that corny cliche that says today is the first day of the rest of your life?
Maybe it’s not so corny.
Because I think it would be cool to start today like it’s a brand new world. And you know those shows where people go back in time and revisit their angst-ridden younger years but with all their accumulated knowledge from their present-day life? Well, maybe I could sort of do that right now.
Why couldn’t I just realize that I actually have gained some hard-earned wisdom in my 51 years? Why couldn’t I let go of all the mess I have been mired in, start fresh and give myself the same advice I’d give anyone else. Because I do know the answer. The answer is to hang in the question…
Just be with the question and quit forcing myself down a road called Certainty. Certainty is a false highway. Many of us occasionally speed along with the arrogant surety of being right about something. It really doesn’t matter what that something is. We just know we’re right. But certainty excludes so many and pushes away other possibilities and options and openings and opportunities for a different approach; an approach that we never see when we’re busy being Certain.
I’ve taken my car off that highway. Instead, I’m bumping along a little half-abandoned dirt track called, I Know Nothing. There’s a lot of potholes and occasionally I’m wallowing in the mud. But there’s a few butterflies and a pretty little lake off to the left and a patch of blue sky that I would have never noticed if I was still hurtling down Certainty.
The other thing I’ve noticed down this bumbling track? I’m going slow enough that my friends can reach out and help me along.
And that is what this post is about. It is a thank you to all my friends who have offered their kind words of encouragement and their insights from shared experiences.
We may be traveling pretty slow on this road called I Know Nothing, but at least we’re going together. Thanks for being here with me.
Wonderful, Colleen. You are wise. 🙂 I will join you: I know nothing.
Hey Lori. This dirt track of I Know Norhing is getting more crowded all the time:) It’s nice to have the company. Thanks for joining in!
Hmm, this one really hits home with my I-want-to-quit-the-real-job issue. I could live with a little less certainty in life, but the hubby’s not so sure. Maybe I’ll have him read this post. Oh, and I did order the book you recommended.
Hey Sharry. Glad it resonates with you too. I’m really trying to be ‘one’ with the open-ended unknowing. It’s a lot less anxiety provoking 🙂
That’s the great thing about friends – we’re always standing alongside the road to cheer you on or catch you when you fall, no matter if that road is right outside your kitchen window or on the other side of the globe.
Holding you in my heart as you travel on this path.
Becca. That really is the great thing about having friends and being a friend. It’s both humbling and a honour to help and to be helped…
My theme for the year; “what’s with the need to be right??”