How TO Navigate Uncertainty

It’s not the blowing of the wind but the set of the sails that determines your destination. -Jim Rohn

We all face challenges, some larger than others but how we respond to them is what gives our life meaning and how we grow.

I read an interesting story about torture during the Inquisition. When the torture was ‘unregulated’, it could last indefinitely. This made the pain unbearable, because the uncertainty worsened the suffering. Eventually the church put a rule in place about how the torture should not last longer than a particular prayer. When this happened the victims of the torture were able to bear the pain more easily — suffering is more bearable when you know how long it will last.

And guess what? The most amazing thing was… See what I did there? I intentionally raised your curiosity and left it unfinished. How did that make you feel? The human mind craves certainty and completion, and dislikes ambiguity.

However, the quality of our lives is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty that we can comfortably tolerate. If we can not tolerate uncertainty it means that we are limited to only doing things that we already know how to do. If we already know how to do those things easily then guess what, we are no learning and we are definitely not growing. At the heart of tolerating uncertainty is the mindset — no matter what happens I’ll be able to handle it and I’ll be fine. We’ve been doing so for thousands of years as a species. We’ve faced countless wars, famines, natural disasters and diseases. We not only survived the challenges, but thrived in spite of them, and in many circumstances thrived not in spite of them but because of them.

Change is the only constant. After winter comes spring. Uncertainty can bring about change but that change can also be to out advantage. Good times follow challenging times, and when challenging times come again (as they will), know that they are only temporary and good times will follow them too.

Three ways to Tolerate Uncertainty

Uncertainty and ambiguity have always been a part of life, and at the rate that change is taking place in our world it seems likely that we are going to experience even more of it. Here are some strategies you can easily apply now to help you navigate the complexity with ease.

1. Relax with Uncertainty

The truth of the matter is that we will never know how things will work out. They may work out favourably or unfavourably. However, what we can commit to is managing our emotional state, because that, our actions and meanings we give things are the only things we can ever control. One way of doing this is to physically relax. Block out 10–20 minutes of time and comfortably relax. Regular relaxation calms down emotional arousal, allows us to think clearly and can ‘reset’ the nervous system — making us more resilient to stress. I can not emphasize the countless benefits of regular relaxation, try it for a few days and you be judge.

2. Listen to your Language

How we communicate events to ourselves becomes our actual experience of life. Managing your self talk is crucial at all times, even more so when we are in the midst of challenging times. Our self talk can magnify a situation and make it worse, or it can transform pressure into positive action. Positive self talk is the backbone of a positive attitude. Why is having a positive attitude so important you ask? Simple, because a negative attitude wipes out self discipline. It takes away the desire to see things differently or take any focused action.

Challenge any negative thoughts and keep your self talk focused on what you can do.

3. Find an Empowering Meaning

Between an event and a response, lies an opportunity for us to choose what that response will be. And the more we do it the better we become at it. It’s not what happens that matters, but the meaning that what we choose to give it that counts.

• Is this the beginning or the end?
• Is this a disaster or is it a challenge, or better yet an opportunity?
• Is God, life, karma or the universe punishing me or pushing me to bring out the best in myself?
• Are they really out to get me? What else could this mean?
• How can I use this to grow stronger and help others?

Nothing has any meaning except the meaning that you choose to give to it.

If you can find a meaning bigger than the uncertainty you are facing that will give you strength to face the unknown. It is when we face the unknown that we are introduced to the endless well of potential inside of everybody that is just waiting to burst out.

Originally published at http://zenmindset.home.blog on February 22, 2020.