Living (and loving) Life
Have you ever been asked a question that you didn’t know the answer to? Of course the answer to that question is yes.
After all, there isn’t a human being alive today who knows everything there is to know about every possible topic. That’s easily confirmed simply by watching an episode or two of the popular Jeopardy! quiz show.
Have you ever wished you could do something that you simply didn’t have the skills you would need in order to accomplish it?
Well here’s the thing: we don’t need to know everything about everything in order to succeed in life. Consider the following questions…
- How many very successful attorneys have the knowledge and skills required to replace a broken timing belt in their car’s engine?
- How many very successful farmers could properly diagnose and treat a dangerous and very rare, but treatable disease that’s afflicting a beloved family member?
- How many very successful doctors would be able to sit down at a piano and deliver a masterful performance of even the simplest composition of Ludwig van Beethoven?
The answer to each of the above questions is probably exceedingly few.
But guess what? Each and every one of us has our own individual talents and interests. We can rely on those around us to fill in the blanks of our lives. For example…
- The successful attorney can simply pay a trained mechanic to replace her broken timing belt.
- The successful farmer can seek out and enlist the help of the most skilled specialists in the field of medicine that deals with his dear loved one’s symptoms.
- And easiest of all, the successful doctor can simply attend a classical concert to experience the pleasure of Beetoven’s music.
Of course the examples mentioned above are extremes. No one would seriously expect even the most successful of farmers to have the medical training and expertise required to diagnose and treat a rare disease. However, the same principle applies to the more mundane aspects of our lives as well.
For example, a person who has managed a successful dairy farm in Wisconsin for decades might be clueless if asked how to successfully plant, cultivate and harvest 70 acres of peanuts on a farm in Georgia and then sell the bounty at the best possible price to whomever it is that buys bulk raw peanuts.
But here’s the thing: If that dairy farmer were to ever tire of herding and milking cows he could always learn how to successfully grow and sell peanuts if he really had the desire to do so.
The first step in that process would be saying “I don’t know” how to grow peanuts. The second step would be watching YouTube videos, taking some agricultural classes, or even moving to Georgia and taking a job as a hired hand on an existing peanut farm.
Once you understand that you don’t know how to do something, you can take whatever steps you need to take in order to learn that skill – IF learning that skill is important to you.
“I don’t know” is simply the starting point of any educational journey. Where you go from there is entirely up to you.
The best thing about all of the above is this: The life-long dairy farmer who eventually grows weary of herding and milking cows also has the option to simply retire and live out the rest of his life on a river bank with a fishing pole in his hand. Peanuts can always be purchased at the corner market.