more knowledge

In second grade, I learned how to multiply numbers. When we started the process of learning how multiplication worked, the goal was to know how to multiply every combination of one through twelve. At the time, I thought my trick to remember eight times eight with a rhyme was truly groundbreaking. Figuring out how to multiple all those numbers seemed like the hardest math I would ever encounter, and once I got it all those multiplications for one through twelve down, I’d basically know how to do rocket science.

Unfortunately, third grade rolled around, and the concept division came to rock my world that there was, in fact, harder math to learn. Year after year I encountered new and more challenging math concepts, and each year, I learned more. Now, after finishing several college calculus courses, I’ve learned I’ll never know all the knowledge there is to know when it comes to math (or even enough to involve myself in rocket science). In fact, there isn’t anyone that will ever have all the knowledge about math, or any topic for that matter.

It sounds daunting that we can never have all of the knowledge, but that doesn’t stop us from gaining more knowledge. In second grade, I thought the peak would be multiplication, but soon after realized there was no peak. If we view knowledge as having a peak in any aspect of our lives, we are forgetting that a large part of what drives growth is uncertainty. We find new knowledge in the unknown.

The topic I think we all wish we had more knowledge about right now is the future. It’s the most uncertain it’s ever been for most of us. If you’re a type one on the enneagram like me, this bothers you a whole lot. Planning just isn’t practical right now in a lot of ways, and that can cause us to want to strive for more knowledge about what is to come. The truth is though, we were never meant to have all of the answers. We were never meant to be able to plan our lives out perfectly to our desires in our heads. We were meant to trust that there will certainly be positive, negative, and neutral moments ahead.

While we can’t strive for more knowledge about our uncertain futures, we can take the initiative to gain more knowledge in the present. This doesn’t always happen by reading a book or listening to a teacher. In fact, I think the best knowledge I’ve ever learned has always happened in the most oddest times, and from the most unexpected “teachers”.

We often think that we have to learn from those older, wiser, or more accomplished people, but we have something to learn from every single person we encounter. We have all lived different lives. We all have heard words, and journeyed through experiences that have shaped us, and what we know. We all have something to learn from each other.

It’s amazing how much we gain by recognizing that while we aren’t experts at everything, we can be experts at seeking out more knowledge.

There’s more to knowledge.

There’s more to it all.