Fear of the mud, or wise rationale?

You will never know enough. If ever you felt that way, all it means is that you have lost the capacity to learn. Your mind has been closed off in a delusion of grandeur. No matter how extensive your knowledge of any field, it will never be "all there is to know".

On the shallow side of the pool, is the ones that believe they have no reason to learn. It doesn't concern them, or there is no reason to know, or the information is readily available should they ever need it. What these people fail to realize is that having things off of the tops of your heads or buried deep in your mind is not equivalent to tapping away on Google.

How does one ensure that they always have a learning mind? That they do not resort to "I know because I have studied a lot on the matter" instead of "Here's the rationale of my argument". How does one make sure they do not fall in the deep end and get caught up in "I know so much, therefore I cannot be wrong"?

So where does the learning mind belong then? Drifting in the middle of the pool, jumping out of the water at times, taking the ladder up to the side-lines, and occasionally trying to hoist themselves up from the deep end of the pool onto the pool side.

Have you ever tried to hoist yourself up from the deep end of the pool onto the side? You feel an immense weight pulling you down. Those who do not wish to fight through the weight convince themselves that it is just better to swim to where the ladder is. Just like those who have "learnt enough" convince themselves that they are the ones who know better; that they have chosen the best choice, and that we are foolish for wanting to feel that weight tugging us down.

Then there are those who swim only at the shallow end. They tell us that swimming is still swimming, no matter how deep (or shallow) the water may be. They tell us that they are doing as much hard work as those in the deep end. In fact, their side accommodates more: from infants, to people who can't swim, and even those who can swim well. Why belong to the show-off deep end people on the opposite side?




Being a drifter isn't easy either. You don't particularly belong anywhere. You can't stomach the deep long strokes of the deep enders, and you can't bear the high pitched cackles of the shallow-enders. So you drift from one end to another, hoist yourself at different sides of the pool just so you can feel the difference in the weight pulling you back. You go to the ladder not to get out of the pool, but rather to feel the cold air (or sometimes warm) gush around your calves as you exit the waters. You sit by the pool not because you are tired of swimming; but rather because you want a good view of both ends of the pool.


But you do not belong to either.