Authentic Clarity

Questions don’t lead to clarity: Actions do. Questions lead either to answers or to more questions, but they never lead to clarity.  Initially, clarity most often arises after we have taken a step.  Only then can we understand why that step was important.  The more we practice irrationally stepping, the more we experience that paradoxical truth.

We imagine that precise clarity is the key to consistently avoiding pitfalls while simultaneously savoring rewards.  Without that definitive clarity, we often feel paralyzed to even make a choice.  We are left to soothe our restless conscience with empty speculation of why we are probably better off, while deep down we continue to wonder what might have been had we been bold enough to try.

Contrary to popular understanding, authentic clarity preempts any judgment of right or wrong, good or bad, desired or not.  Clarity empowers us to step in spite of uncertainty.  Eventually, decisions become less about dichotomy and more about discovery.  An excited curiosity overwhelms our sensibilities as we cast off our thinking caps in favor of a fedora and head off into the vast unknown!