Know it All

I used to know and understand everything when I was a teenager.

REALLY, I did!

It's rather disappointing to realize that I no longer know everything.

Well, at least that's how I felt when it first hit me.

I just don't have all the answers anymore, and I really used to.

Then, as I thought about this loss of omniscience, I began to think a little more broadly, and I realized that the only adults I know that "know everything" are those that have not outgrown their adolescent years. Their black and white view of the world may make them comfortable, but it makes everyone else around them miserable as they wield their "truth" like a sword.

And, of course, they DON'T know everything, none of us do. They're just so insecure that they need the sword of "knowing it all" to give them the illusion of safety.

It is said that "Ignorance is bliss."

I don't know about that, but perhaps it is the case that "Recognition of ignorance is one element of maturity."

It seems a more genuine security is present in those who are able to be comfortable saying, "I don't know the answer."

None of us knows everything, and to pretend otherwise once one is past adolescence is just pathetic.