I Don't Know

I don't know: If I'll ever have kids

When I'll die, or how

Where I'll be living in 5 years

If the Lions will ever win a Super Bowl

Why my mom has MS

Why God left humans in charge

Why I have the shortcomings that I do

What my wife sees in me

Why the Middle East is always in a state of unrest

Why American's think living in debt is ok

Why Good Charlotte ever got a record deal

Clearly, I don't know a lot. The more I live the more I realize how little I actually do know.  This used to frighten me, it was paralyzing.  I felt like a walking contradiction. I thought I had to feign knowledge and understanding just to fit in; to not look like an idiot.

It's ridiculous. We're all tragically under informed. For everything you do know, there are a ton of things that you don't know.  If you're an expert in one area, you're an amateur in a thousand other areas, and that's a conservative number.

Like I said, this used to frighten me. I was so concerned with not wanting to look like an idiot that I didn't want to take risks. I didn't try my hardest in school because getting straight A's comes with expectations, expectations I didn't think I could handle. It was easier to get B's and fly under the radar, so to speak.

Even as an 'adult' I've found that people are still playing this game.  We hide behind our titles, our 'expertise', and we hide the fact that we're all amateurs.  We're all trying to figure out just exactly what the heck is going on.

So many of us are frightened of what we don't know that it keeps us from doing anything outside of what we do know. This was me. I had my zone and I stuck to it. I was good at it. But recently I've been prodded and poked and challenged by people who don't let  their lack of knowledge stop them from trying to change the world.

And let me tell you, that attitude is contagious.  I know that I don't know a lot, it just doesn't bother me anymore.

I'm willing to take the risks of being wrong, of looking like an idiot, and of failing because it's worth those risks to do something new, to gain more knowledge, and to potentially change the world.  We cannot live in ignorance or fear if we want to change the world.  We've got to be risk takers, we've got to get past our lack of knowledge and we've got to break the status quo.

What don't you know?