You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Here’s something to think about: You don’t know what you don’t know. That might seem like a strange thing to say. In case you want to explore this more, Doug has a story to share that may clarify this concept.

Here’s Doug’s story:  “I was ten years old and I’ll never forget that day. The school bus dropped me off in front of our farm house. I walked in the front door and realized there was nobody home. I saw a small rectangular box on the kitchen table. From the return address on the box, I knew it was okay to open it. Little did I know that what was inside the box would change my life forever!  It was something I had been waiting for – a pair of glasses!”

“I put the glasses on and walked outside.  There was a tree about twenty feet away and for the first time, from that distance, I could clearly see the individual leaves on the tree.  Wow! I looked down and I could see the individual blades of grass. Another wow! Then that evening there was a full moon and I could see a perfectly round full moon in the sky instead of a fuzzy blob of light. I never knew what I had been missing; I didn’t know what I didn’t know. It was amazing!”

I told Doug that now I know why he always calls me over saying, “Honey, look at the moon.” He says that he doesn’t take those things for granted anymore.  I agree that seeing clearly allows us to uncover things we never would have known and can give us a new appreciation for the many gifts in life.

In your life, are there some areas where you don’t know what you don’t know?  Are there some things or people you are taking for granted?  If so, where is this happening in your life? Perhaps you don’t really see the small changes occurring in people around you, especially in the people that you are with every day. What can you do so you can really “see” them? What are the subtle changes that sometimes could lead to big changes? If I could have a “do over” I would definitely spend more time looking directly into the eyes of my loved ones and less time worrying about such things as fingerprints on the walls.

Just as you might miss noticing things about the people in your life, it’s easy to have that happen in other parts of your life.  Maybe your life is busy.  When you take a walk, do you take time to really notice the beautiful scenery, the trees and the flowers? I know Doug and I want to be more observant and enjoy the people and nature around us.

Doug says, “Sometimes you don’t even see the obvious.  I remember driving along on a road that I had been on many times before and I looked over and saw a building. Evidently, it had been there for a long time but I had never seen it before”.  Maybe you have had those experiences also.

In a related thought, because there are things we don’t know, sometimes there are also things that we don’t understand about a situation.  When something happens to you, then you are able to see it more clearly and understand it a lot better.  You probably have experienced those “Aha” moments when you finally understood and saw something that you had not seen nor understood before.

So, we recognize that sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know.  We also recognize we can benefit by raising our awareness of people and our surroundings. We hope this message has been helpful for you. We would love to hear your stories about what you didn’t know and how you were able to finally “know” it through your new awareness.

Here’s the challenge: Take time to be “in the moment” to be more aware of what is going on around you.  You might discover a new richness to your experiences and a new depth to your relationships.

© Lynn Nodland 2017
Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are owners of The Balance Center. They can be reached at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com