Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of questions that

The troubadour of working men’s dreams, Bruce Springsteen, once declared: “Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of questions that don't have answers. So I let the mystery settle into my music. I don't deny anything, I don't advocate anything, I just live with it.” In these words lies a truth as ancient as the desert prophets and as modern as the restless streets: that life is not a puzzle to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. The burdens of adulthood are not merely duties and labors, but the weight of unanswerable questions—about love, death, injustice, purpose. Springsteen shows us that to wrestle endlessly with these questions may break the spirit, but to transform them into music is to find a way to live with their mystery.

The ancients, too, spoke of the unanswerable. Socrates, wisest of Athenians, confessed, “I know that I know nothing.” The sages of the East counseled silence before the mysteries of existence, teaching that some truths lie beyond the grasp of reason. Springsteen walks in their path, not with scrolls or chants, but with guitar and voice. He admits that the questions remain—yet instead of despair, he lets them breathe through song. His art becomes the vessel through which the unfathomable can be borne, not explained, but shared.

Consider the Psalms of old. They are filled not with answers, but with cries: “Why do the wicked prosper?” “Why is my soul cast down?” These laments endure because they do not resolve into certainty—they dwell in the mystery of being human. So too does Springsteen’s music, filled with wandering spirits, broken heroes, and dreamers who do not find easy victories. He reflects life as it is: unresolved, yet deeply alive. His refusal to deny, to simplify, or to falsely advocate, makes his music authentic. It holds the weight of reality, and in that honesty, it heals.

A real-life reflection of this can be found in the life of Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, he faced questions with no good answers: how to heal a nation divided, how to fight for freedom without destroying unity, how to mourn the dead while still sending men into battle. He did not always find solutions; he often spoke of “the burden of uncertainty” and sought solace in poetry and scripture. Like Springsteen, he learned to live with the mystery, to let it shape his leadership, and to walk forward even when the road was fogged. His greatness lay not in certainty, but in endurance amid doubt.

The teaching here is profound: life will confront us with riddles that defy logic—suffering that cannot be explained, injustice that resists solution, longing that remains unfulfilled. The temptation is to deny these mysteries or to cover them with false certainties. Yet Springsteen urges another way: let the mystery live within you. Do not run from it, and do not pretend to solve it. Instead, transform it into something honest—into art, into compassion, into patient endurance. This is the wisdom of those who accept the limits of reason yet embrace the fullness of life.

The lesson for us is this: do not fear the unanswered. You will not solve every riddle, nor win every battle, nor understand every sorrow. But you can live fully, bringing beauty and truth into the world even in uncertainty. When the questions press too heavily, turn them into expression—write, sing, speak, or create. Let your life itself become a song that holds the mystery without needing to break it.

Practically, this means cultivating acceptance and expression. When faced with life’s unanswerable questions, breathe deeply instead of forcing resolution. Journal your confusion, paint your sorrow, or simply sit in silence with it. And then, as Springsteen does, let that mystery move through you as a force for creation, not destruction. In this way, you do not escape the questions, but you find a way to carry them with dignity.

Thus, let Springsteen’s wisdom echo across time: adult life is filled with unanswered questions, but in embracing the mystery, we find our art, our truth, and our humanity. Do not deny, do not disguise—live with it, and let it shape you into a vessel of honesty. For the one who can live with mystery walks not in despair, but in depth, and leaves behind a legacy that resonates like music, long after the questions remain.