Words that caught us: Ambiguity and unknowingness are blessings

 

If you are feeling clueless about something;

Or are facing some new situation,

Where your knowledge and experience don't match up;

Or are hang up and confused about what to do next...

Hope you’ll find the following words

Soothing, reassuring and helpful:

 

“Authentic Leaders know

they will never know it all.

They also know

that they don’t have to.

And they are completely comfortable

with not having all the answers.

They know that ambiguity

leads to opportunity.

When an Authentic Leader

doesn’t know what to do,

they do the next right thing.

Doing the next right thing

doesn’t require

knowing the end result,

it only requires knowing

the next right thing to do.

A series of “right next steps”

will invariably lead

to the desired end result...

Don’t simply tolerate ambiguity,

embrace it.

Relish the unknown

and use it as a springboard

to knowing more.

Admit what you don’t know.

Admit it especially to yourself.

And remind yourself that not knowing

isn’t a weakness,

it is the beginning of knowing more.”

 

The author is addressing leaders,

But the wisdom of his words

Applies to all of us

Who suffer and struggle

With unknowingness.

We are all seekers,

Whether we are aware of it,

Or not.

And the practice of seeking

Is the practice of curiosity...

Of asking questions,

Of wondering and wandering,

Not so much to find definitive answers,

But rather,

To live and sustain

The wonder and mystery

That is life.

 

Much is hidden from us

That we may learn to be seekers.

Certainty eludes us all

That we may learn to pay attention to the moment.

Probably that’s why travel and adventure

Is a much loved hobby.

Probably, that’s why we love investigative

And mystery novels.

Probably, that’s why we are so attached

To the Heroes’ Myth.

Probably, that’s why when we come across

Something completely new,

We often stand in awe and wonder...

For all these offer us various ways

Of overcoming and getting comfortable

With our unknowingness.

Curiosity is the power that propels us forward,

Because our unknowingness is so constant.

 

Confusion, ambiguity and unknowingness,

Are therefore messengers, calls and signs.

And ours is to answer the call,

to follow the signs,

And decipher the message.

That’s how providence

Reveals itself to us!

*This reflection was inspired by this article by Steve Keating.