I Don't Know / The Storm of the Year

"I don't know."

Can I just be honest? I generally don't like saying those words.

Sometimes it feels like I'm admitting defeat.

I tend to say "I'm not sure." I feel like it's a little less "harsh," for lack of better term. But it has the same effect.

I keeps me grounded. It keeps me humble.

No, I don't know everything. I like to try and come across as being intelligent, but let's face it. There is no way that I'm going to know the answer to every question asked of me over my lifetime. And that can be said the same of you who is reading. But it's part of learning.

Yes, it might hurt my ego in the moment, but sometimes it helps to just be honest. Here it is in the words of Derek Sivers:

"Being stupid means avoiding thinking by jumping to conclusions. Jumping to a conclusion is like quitting a game: you lose by default. That's why saying "I don't know" is usually smart, because it's refusing to jump to a conclusion."

Often times I might find myself in a place where I know part of the answer or think I know the answer. In those cases, it doesn't hurt to ask for more information. People love sharing what they know. And as I said earlier, it's part of learning.

So, in reality, the phrase "I don't know" might actually be one of the smartest things you could say.

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Life Update: Last week I said, "I think Georgia is confused." No, now I know Georgia is confused. Where else can you experience an ice storm, rain, earthquakes, and 70 degree weather in one week? 

I'm so glad to be back in the "normal" swing of things. Apparently they're predicting one more big storm around the end of February. Please, just no. 

Alright, so last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were pretty boring. Not gonna lie. I hung around the house, did some studying, cooked, and played a little in the snow/ice stuff.  We went back to class late on Friday, and my test ended up getting moved, so I turned in an assignment in one class and played Jeopardy in the other.

Snow and Ice View from the Porch

Afterwards, I had lunch with Laila at Chick-fil-A, packed up, and headed to Augusta. Oh. My. Goodness. Y'all. Augusta. I've used this phrase a lot to describe the city, but it really did look like a war zone. I've never seen so many fallen power lines, fallen trees, and destroyed things.

I think there ended up being over 128,000 people without power, 255 broken poles, 1,745 spans of wire down, and thousands of snapped trees and broken limbs causing countless damage to houses, fences, and power lines. And even as I type this, there are still people there going on their 7th day without power! Here's a collage:

Some of the Ice Storm Damage in Augusta, GA

I came back to Athens on Sunday after experiencing the ice, 60 degree weather, and 2 earthquakes. That first earthquake was something else. It was so weird because we heard it before we actually felt the shaking! We then spent the next hour laughing at all the Facebook statuses...And my favourite picture:

It was kind of funny because on my way to Augusta, I got behind an army of around 50 Alabama power trucks, but on my way back I passed around 20 North Carolina power trucks. I spent Sunday night studying...fun stuff.

Yesterday was a bit back to normal. I had class and took my test. My mom and sister came back to Athens, and we went hiking up in Tallulah Gorge. The weather was beautiful, but those hundreds of stairs were something else. Let me tell you.

At the Gorge Bottom

And again, it's another Tuesday morning, and I'm about to go get some lunch and head to class and work.

Enjoy the warm weather (for now)!

Megan

Video of the Week: Alan Andersen's 5 Minute Footage of Middle Schoolers Falling On Ice