We tend to want “certainty” in our lives. We want to know that the car is going to start. We want to know what we are going to be doing on the weekend. We want to know we will have enough money to pay our bills or to be able to retire. We want to know where we are going to go to college, what will be our major and what we will do when we graduate. The list can go on and on.
“Certainty” is just not within our grasp. As much as we think we know what is going to happen or that “everything is going to be alright”, we really don’t. Ironically, I am not promoting anxiety with this little thought, but want to encourage acceptance, personal responsibility and confidence that we can tolerate much more than we give ourselves credit.
“Certainty” is not all that! As I was thinking about this, I just did a Google search for “uncertainty” and found several articles on “The Uncertainty Principle” (way above my head!), but it would seem that scientists are not even able to be as “certain” as they would like. It turns out that we are not able to know where a thing is and where it is going at the same time and that by observing a thing we change that which we are observing; thus, contaminating the experiment to a degree. Anyway, enough of that. The point is no matter how much we would like “certainty” it is not happening!
The quest for “certainty” is a major source of anxiety. We would be wise to simply take a deep breath, relax and take a moment to be mindful of ourselves and appreciate our existence. Embrace “uncertainty” with the perspective that it adds variety to the world and it
affords you another opportunity to consider life’s priorities and make another choice about how you will respond in the face of the new reality. Accept that we can affect our circumstances to a degree by making good choices: work hard, love others well, be kind, take care of yourself (physically, mentally and spiritually), forgive, laugh, …….. but, we will never control our circumstances to the point of certainty.
This is not to ignore that there are many things that were once uncertain that we may have thought was certain can be very painful, but thinking we can do enough to totally avoid those things in our lives is rather naïve. As you go through this day, be aware of just how many things are “uncertain” and how much we really live by faith out of necessity. So, let’s persevere, keep our priorities in focus no matter what life brings us and live in faith on purpose. Carpe Diem!
“Certainty” is just not within our grasp. As much as we think we know what is going to happen or that “everything is going to be alright”, we really don’t. Ironically, I am not promoting anxiety with this little thought, but want to encourage acceptance, personal responsibility and confidence that we can tolerate much more than we give ourselves credit.
“Certainty” is not all that! As I was thinking about this, I just did a Google search for “uncertainty” and found several articles on “The Uncertainty Principle” (way above my head!), but it would seem that scientists are not even able to be as “certain” as they would like. It turns out that we are not able to know where a thing is and where it is going at the same time and that by observing a thing we change that which we are observing; thus, contaminating the experiment to a degree. Anyway, enough of that. The point is no matter how much we would like “certainty” it is not happening!
The quest for “certainty” is a major source of anxiety. We would be wise to simply take a deep breath, relax and take a moment to be mindful of ourselves and appreciate our existence. Embrace “uncertainty” with the perspective that it adds variety to the world and it
affords you another opportunity to consider life’s priorities and make another choice about how you will respond in the face of the new reality. Accept that we can affect our circumstances to a degree by making good choices: work hard, love others well, be kind, take care of yourself (physically, mentally and spiritually), forgive, laugh, …….. but, we will never control our circumstances to the point of certainty.
This is not to ignore that there are many things that were once uncertain that we may have thought was certain can be very painful, but thinking we can do enough to totally avoid those things in our lives is rather naïve. As you go through this day, be aware of just how many things are “uncertain” and how much we really live by faith out of necessity. So, let’s persevere, keep our priorities in focus no matter what life brings us and live in faith on purpose. Carpe Diem!
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