The “I Do Not Know” Conspiracy

Tough spot, painful circumstance, official dilemma. A total jam.

“I just don’t know what to do.”

Hmmm. Then what? If you just don’t know what to do, then what are you going to do? Probably nothing. If you declare you don’t know, then you won’t…know. You’ll just sway back ‘n forth in the lull of your status quo unknowingness. No need to change because you just don’t want to know. Knowing would change things. Knowing would require you to change things.

If you said to your commanding officer, “I just don’t know what to do,” you’d be scrubbing the latrine in short order. If you told your heart-broken significant other, “I just don’t know what to do,” it wouldn’t exactly foster the mojo or the trust. If the Opportunity Fairy fluttered your way and you told her, “I just don’t know,” then she’d be off to her next assignment. She might stick around if you showed some initiative, or asked for a night to sleep on it — anything to show your sincere interest in revelation.

Tough spot, painful circumstance….bloody seemingly impossible, grotesquely challenging, borderline hellish:

“I’ll figure this out.”

How’s that feel? Better, doesn’t it? More…possible. More upright. Wings ready to spread. Ears piqued to hear universal cues. Instincts at the helm.

Confusion is a marvelous, magical place. Suspending certainty is an act of enlightenment. And “Security,” as Helen Keller put it, “is mostly superstition.” I’m not talking about being certain (impossible) or being arrogantly presumptuous of what’s coming next. I’m talking about responding creatively to life. “I just don’t know,” is often a cover up for “I don’t want to grow.”

“I’ll figure it out,” may mean waiting quietly, even for a long time, on the will of heaven. It may mean turning over every single stone without rest until you find the answer or the escape hatch. It may mean praying until you sweat, surveying the experts, or forty days in the desert. But one thing’s for sure, if you declare that you’ll figure it out, the possibilities are endless.