Sit In the State of Unknowing episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 1, 2026 · 2 MIN

Sit In the State of Unknowing

from The Optimistic Outlook with John Eades · host John Eades

_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Most people treat uncertainty like a problem to be solved. It isn't. It's a muscle to be built. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> At our 15th anniversary dinner, Amy did something I thought was interesting. She left her phone at the hotel. But throughout the night, without thinking, she kept reaching for a phone that wasn't there. It happened so often we started laughing at ourselves. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> We had trained our brains to reach for certainty the moment anything felt unclear. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> John Keats had a name for the antidote: Negative Capability. The discipline of sitting with uncertainty, doubt, and mystery instead of running from it. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> "You don't have to solve the uncertainty. You just have to learn to sit in it." _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Scrolling feels better than sitting with an uncomfortable thought. Checking feels better than waiting. But what's waiting on the other side of that discomfort, a real conversation, a creative idea, an honest emotion you've been avoiding, is usually worth far more than whatever you found on your phone. div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> Test yourself today. Leave your phone somewhere out of reach and notice how often you think about it. That's your baseline. Get John's book, Optimistic Outlook, on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Optimistic-Outlook-Lessons-Important-Muscle/dp/B0G4R5VJH1/  

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 1, 2026

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Sit In the State of Unknowing

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