I only need to know what I know

Right now, I only need to know what I know. I don't need to know what I don't know. Part of the stress of grad school is the core belief that I'm supposed to know everything (and I'm supposed to shame myself for not knowing everything). Almost all the time, I feel as though I am expected to know things that I don't know. It's as though I'm operating under this umbrella of "shoulds," which I know we are all familiar with. But these particular shoulds are about knowing information that I don't know. For instance, while reading this weeks DSM installment, I heard: "You just read that paragraph, why can't you remember what you just read? Can you explain it? Explain it. You're wasting time. You don't know it? You can't not know it. You just read a paragraph on it. You're supposed to be an expert on it. You'll feel better about yourself if you're an expect on it. How are you going to make sure that you know all of these things that you don't know??!!!!" AHHH...okay, so the basic core belief from my internal system is as follows: You are supposed to know what you do not know. My goodness, the shoulds! The shouldn'ts and the shoulds! 

This is the truth: I know what I know. I don't know what I don't know. Predicting external expectations does nothing to help me; it simply brings up anxiety. I am allowed to be free of these stories about shoulds. Further, intellectual understanding about this concept does not sooth my anxiety in the way that my anxious parts need soothed. I am allowed to breathe in, breathe out and let go. I am allowed to imagine a glowing figure of Love, embracing me and reminding me that all of the love I need in the world will emanate towards me from within my own self. breathe in, breathe out.