Uncertainty?

Uncertainty?

You might have noticed – there is quite a bit of uncertainty going around these days.

Whether it’s the political climate, the state of the economy or changes at work, there are many moving parts.

Where it will all end up is anyone’s guess.

For some people, uncertainty can be exciting, but for most of us – not so much. And it can look like a problem when you don’t understand how the mind works.

For example, imagine you’re hosting a big family gathering (Thanksgiving anybody?), and you’re not sure who’s going to turn up, despite all your reminders. You’re also concerned whether people are going to bring the food item that they promised, or whether the turkey is going to fit in the oven this year. It would be perfectly normal to have thoughts about the uncertainty. After all, a lot is uncertain and you’re trying to orchestrate an event with many moving parts. It would be easy to have thoughts such as anxiety, worry or something similar.

That said, the moment you remember the source of your experience, you see/remember a few things:

• Your experience seems real, but it is also potentially transient, brought to you by thoughts in that moment.
• If you continue to entertain those thoughts, the experience will hang around longer and look even more real.
• If you do not put any energy into the thinking (i.e., think more about it), it could fade and disappear as easily as it arrived.
• As that thinking disappears, by the grace of the design of your mind, another set of thoughts will replace it, giving you another reality.
• And lastly, if your mind is calm and balanced, the new thinking that shows up will be wise and helpful.

Knowing all of this allows you to have perspective and trust whenever uncertainty seems to show up. And after all, life is fundamentally uncertain. Do you know what the weather will be tomorrow? Or what emails you will receive in the next hour? Or what new events might happen across the planet overnight?

Uncertainty is just a certain flavor of thinking like the thousands of other flavors we have. When you can see that in the moment, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Bon appétit.

Robin Charbit