Certain Uncertainty

Uncertainty. It's a word that dredges up dread and fear in the hearts of most of us. We usually do our best to fight against uncertainty, ignore it or at least, remain in complete denial. Yet, we live with uncertainty every single day, even though most of us go around pretending as if we have total control. Then, when we come face-to-face with the realization that we, in fact, do not have complete control, or when we find ourselves in a situation that's not familiar or predictable, we may fall apart. We may become obsessed with the fact that we do not know what to expect, and sometimes we let this unravel us or create so much anxiety that we check out of our lives and get stuck in our heads.

So, how do we stop this battle with uncertainty? Here are a couple of ideas below:

1. Instead of letting uncertainty be our undoing, what if we gave it some space in our lives? What if we allowed uncertainty to exist, instead of pretending it's not there with all our might? Imagine if we looked uncertainty squarely in the eyes and said hi. There you are again, uncertainty. I know you're a part of life, and while I don't like you very much, I might as well not waste my energy fighting against you. We're gonna get through this together.

2. It can also really help to redirect our attention to what is within our control. Do we still get to pick what clothes we put on in the morning? What we eat for lunch? What we read? Who we spend our time with? Aspects of our work? If we take a look around, we usually have more control over our day-to-day lives than we realize. Recognizing this can take some of the power out of feeling uncertain about the bigger picture.

3. Focus on being in this moment, right here, right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this mindfulness stuff is trendy. But, I have to say, there's a reason for it. Mounds of research show how mindfulness improves happiness, reduces stress and can improve overall quality of life. So, even though it's not a new suggestion, why wouldn't we all try to add more mindfulness into our lives to help deal with any challenge?

There's certainly no skipping uncertainty. Most of us will not suddenly learn to love the feeling of not knowing what comes next. But, maybe, just maybe, we can learn to accept that uncertainty will be along with us for the ride . . . even if we do give it a dirty look now and then.