There's a Filipino saying that sort of goes this way:
A young rice stalk stands tall and proud,
when it's grown and ready for harvest it bows down
One of my posts on work wisdoms talks about pruning. It's the painful process one has to go through to grow up-- and as we grow up, we learn how important it is to bow down.
As I become older, the more I realize that I don't know everything about anything at all. You think you know a person, then they do something out of character. You think you got your plans all mapped out then something unexpected happens. You think you got your basic Science down pat, then they say Pluto's not a planet. So what do you do? You accept, you learn, you stay open and humble.
It feels so good to be so superior and smart and all-knowing, but I think once we lose our humility we lose something far more important. When we say we're the ultimate expert on something, you can expect that from that point on, learning will be limited-- because, well you're already an expert! Nobody will dare correct you now and that will be the beginning of the end.
But there will always something new to learn, something to improve. I guess humility is more important than knowing it all.
