“If you want to know your past, look into
your present conditions.
If you want to know your future, look into
your present actions”, states the Chinese
proverb.
Life is filled with uncertainty.
We rarely have a precise picture of what lies
ahead, so we take what arises with determined
courage.
It’s natural to believe you are in control
of your life, yet uncertainty is required
because the seeds of opportunity lie in the
unexpected.
At a deeper level, you may fear uncertainty
because of a lack of life skills to navigate
through it.
Known as a negativity bias, it is a mental
predisposition to notice and ruminate on negative
information while neglecting the positive.
The security you crave is an illusion that
draws you into a false sense of safety.
Author David Rock writes in Your Brain at
Work: “The brain craves certainty.
A sense of uncertainty about the future and
feeling out of control both generate strong
limbic system responses.”
As a result, your mind looks to your external
environment to reinforce a sense of balance.
Bruce Hood affirms this in The Self Illusion:
“…in situations where outcomes are important,
we get stressed by uncertainty and feel the
need to do something so that we can have the
illusion that we can control events.”
To believe you are in command of your life
can be both a blessing and curse.
In one way it affirms your sense of safety,
while on the other it is misleading because
you have limited control, if any.
It’s no surprise the mind is notorious for
exaggerating situations more than they appear.
Known in psychology as catastrophizing, it
refers to the inherent bias to perceive events
within a negative context.
So, how can you embrace the unexpected without
being overcome by the accompanying emotions?
To embrace uncertainty requires a change in
perspective.
You must yield to the intrinsic forces of
life, not oppose them.
However uncomfortable, you lean in to your
fears and insecurities but do not run away
from them.
Therefore, inhabit your body when anxiety
arises and then choose a time to examine the
cause of the anxiety.
Perhaps you’ve experienced similar anxiety
in the past?
If so, are you repeating these feelings instead
of dealing with them?
Fear is a confronting emotion, yet you gain
self-assurance when you embrace it as a useful
emotion.
You can turn down the volume on fear by being
exposed to it a little each time.
Uncertainty is an inner knowing that everything
will turn out exactly as it should.
It strengthens your commitment to abide with
the natural order of life.
You must be comfortable with uncertainty because
it exists in our lives.
Don’t retreat from it but expose yourself
to it a little each time.
It was the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who
once declared: “If you are distressed by
anything external, the pain is not due to
the thing itself but to your own estimate
of it; and this you have the power to revoke
at any moment.”
Try finding the balance between uncertainty
and maintaining control without manipulating
outcomes.
Let go of any tension, anxiety and fear by
embracing the unknown.
Uncertainty helps you to re-evaluate the past
and make new choices in light of what transpires.
It presents opportunities to create a compelling
future based on new information.
Often, the most ambitious plans emerge through
the obscuring veil of uncertainty.
Welcome curiosity and excitement and you will
slowly become comfortable with it.
Also, be aware of your present actions as
you embrace uncertainty.
In doing so, you move toward the unfamiliar
with a firm ambition to resolve
the past.
