Knowing what we didn’t know

One of the lessons I never wanted to learn was how much I didn’t know that I didn’t know.

And yet the circumstances of life have made this one of my mantras–we cannot know what we do not know. I say it a lot and now I have a corollary which is that once we know what we didn’t know, we must act from that new place in all integrity.

Which means that if I did not know about an unfairness in the world, once I know I can get to the business of learning more–which in this world is easy to do just simply with a phone and some internet signal.

Which means that if I did not know that something unjust was going on, once I know, I am then compelled to act in accordance with my new knowledge, adding my might to the side pushing for a new way of being.

Which means that if I did not know what I now know, my energy is best spent in trying to learn and to grow and not to spend time in guilt or self-flagellation OR in trying to win favor from those I may have inadvertently hurt.

So here is what I know now:

We don’t know what we don’t know.

And sometimes we learn.

And then we can keep on the journey of learning, celebrating the chance to transform ourselves and our world.