“There are two different types of people in this world. Those who want to know and those who want to believe,” — Friedrich Nietzsche

We all believe in something, but we ought to recognize the blinders we’ve put on as we wrap our minds around it. Beliefs are made to be challenged. And so we must be open to the provocation if we wish to grow beyond who we currently are.

We know the world is full of people who want no such thing. Belief is a corridor with high walls. Zealous believers are inclined to believe just about anything that reinforces the core beliefs they came into the conversation with. We ought to reflect in that moment on our own core beliefs as well, that we may see the walls we’ve built.

Growth comes from knowledge, not belief. Knowledge is the goal. Knowledge of universal truth, knowledge of the self, knowledge of becoming and reaching for our potential. Personal excellence may reside just beyond our reach, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still reach.

The thing is, we ought to recognize what our inclinations are and learn to provoke and challenge ourselves with each step. When we’ve settled on a belief we tend to stay in place with it. I may believe that all people who voted differently than I did were fools or fanatics, but believing that puts me in a box from which I’ll never climb out of until I learn to see something else about those people. I walk through my community knowing roughly half of them would judge me ill-informed with my own vote. None of us have it all figured out, and judging others is just another wall built of belief. The better question is always, where do we go from here?

Where is the path forward when everyone is building walls with their beliefs? We must become aware of who we are and where we have holes to fill in our own incomplete masterpiece. Each step on our journey offers insight into who we might be if we would only stop believing we’ve got it all figured out.