HEATHER HOPES: A Puzzle of Expertise

By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Special to the NEWS

Heather Cathleen Cox

Susie solved a puzzle one day. Within a week, someone carrying a different, unfinished puzzle stumbled onto Susie’s path, and she felt apt to advise the person. “Oh,” Susie said, “do exactly what I did, and you’ll see results!”

We can learn a good many things, but since only God is omniscient—or all-knowing—even alleged experts in a field can’t know everything. Like Susie, we can be tempted to allow ego to convince us otherwise, but life quickly becomes dangerous when we begin taking ourselves (and others!) too seriously.

I’m someone who is somewhat talented in a couple of ways, but the more I delve into each category of my talent, I realize how truly limited my knowledge is. I write, but I’m certainly no expert writer. I think I’ve always known this to be true; however, I used to believe I should appear to have it “all together.” As a “writing instructor,” “writing counselor,” “published writer,” so forth, I mistakenly assumed I must know everything about writing in order to keep said positions.

Have you ever felt similarly? Don’t many of us feel that if we don’t pretend we know everything about our profession, we could lose something? Well, we might be conditioned to think this way, which is why we should take solace in the fact that only God can know everything. If there are things we know, great. If our knowledge works to profit us, fine. But pretending to have any area of life completely and totally figured out is a recipe for failure.

Once I made peace with the fact that I cannot and should not have everything figured out, even with regards to a career I love, I did myself and others a favor: I admitted it. With this freedom, the freedom to just be me and not know it all, I still write whenever I have something to say. For me, a huge burden has been lifted, but nothing has changed except making the decision to embrace my limitations.

In case no one told you—because no one told me—life isn’t an Excel spreadsheet with which we can graph our way into a desirable future. While it’s not necessarily bad or wrong to seek the counsel of so-called (usually self-labeled) industry experts, what makes anyone else an expert in your personal circumstance? Did they read a book on your life? Did they write it? Perhaps they solved the puzzle of a college degree.

What I pose for all of us today is a desire to gain newfound wisdom, in hopes we would each realize that we, not some alleged expert, hold the torch that lights our own worlds. We, not the government or religious officials, not our parents or children are responsible for our own choices.

At some point, we must begin thinking for ourselves because there is no group of people, no entity of power that will stand in our place before God on Judgment Day. Although a sobering thought, this shouldn’t cause alarm. The Bible states clearly that God has given each of us a spirit of love and a sound mind. This qualifies you and me as persons capable of loving both ourselves and others, as capable of thinking clearly and for ourselves.

If an omniscient God has equipped us to successfully live the life He gave us, we should forever be wary of anyone who makes us feel contrary.

For more about Heather Hopes, visit www.HeatherHopes.com.