Read the Instruction(s)

One of the most colorful periods in my life was the one week I spent working 10-hour shifts at an aluminum plant.

The person who got me the job was at a high-pressure point, with a newborn baby to take care of & a felony record, figuring out the best way to support his family.

"If someone could just tell me what to do," he said, "I'd do it. But I don't know what that is."

With a background in Christianity, my initial thought was Bible, but I didn't suggest it because it wasn't the instructions he wanted to hear.

I took my first college course, Intro to Micro-Economics, a few months later. The professor repeatedly came across concepts where he'd say, "This lesson is for Macro-Economics," and "We go deeper into this idea in  Global Economics." I could barely grasp the lessons in Economics 101 and soon realized there were whole courses beyond my current reach. I learned what I didn't know.  

Then a friend told me something I didn't like but needed: "Sometimes I'll read or listen to the things I don't agree with," he said, "because that's where true learning happens."

That's when I realized the instructions I had for life were only my instructions, and there were many more outside of my ideas I could learn from. So I spent the next decade studying & applying spiritual and psychological philosophies. After much stretching, I've found spiritual growth both exhausting & rewarding.

Along the way, I've scraped my knee against complex realities my ignorance and ego shielded me from. As my cousin, Dom, said, "Everyone knows they don't know everything, but nobody wants to admit when they are wrong."

As limited as we are, to claim what we know as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is ego closing our mind to protect itself. Once shut, growth is stunted. As Lao Tzu said:

"A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.”  Tao Te Ching

Closed mindedness brings me to Nate Liason's Level 3 Thinking

Life is complex and not easy to digest. So we recognize patterns & drop our concepts of life into pre-conceived templates.

It's a practical efficiency mechanism to free up psychological bandwidth.

This "shortcut" is okay if you realize its application & origin. But if we're ignorant of our spiritual, psychological, & ideological source code(s), our attempts to insulate our ego stunts the required sacrifice & suffering that leads to spiritual growth.

One way to wiggle away from sacrifice & suffering is to chalk up your lack of understanding to faith.

What's faith?

Is faith adding or subtracting whatever conveniently lines up with our argument?

Or is faith opening us up to the unknown with intentions of transforming ourselves when new insights come?

Unshakable faith is touted as a virtue. But starting with an answer and working backward is egocentric because it keeps us where we are and holds us back from where we can go.

Faith is a principle acted out. You take what you do know & move towards what you don't, having confidence you'll gain new knowledge (or die trying).

Don't start with an answer & work backward from there. Start with a question & move forward instead.

Recognize. Respect. Stretch. Repeat. Forever.