Do you feel uncertain and insecure when faced with the prospect of entering into situations you have not encountered previously? Many of us do. We prefer to know what will happen next.
As technology advances exponentially, we "know" more and more about the world around us but does "knowing" more make us more certain? According to statistics, more and more people today suffer from anxiety related issues than ever before. Feeling insecure may lead to fears and a desire for more safety. Desiring safety, we may start to make compromises, and having made those compromises, we may start to feel discontented.
Is there really enough safety to keep all uncertainty at bay?
Should we all build walls, arm ourselves with guns, be suspicious of everything and everybody? Someone has said: "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived" and the words encourage me to ponder if maybe overcoming our fears would not maybe be a better starting point for feeling more certain and secure.
When faced with fears, especially those which are hard to define, I have found it helpful to ask myself some questions.
First I ask: This which I fear, exactly what is it? Second: Is what I fear, a threat to my life?
Third: Have I encountered this that I fear, before? If I have dealt with this kind of fear before, Forth: How did I deal with the fear? Fifth: What was the outcome?
Some say that basically these are the fears we deal with in different trappings; the fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, and the fear of not being loved.
( For people who live in very precarious situations, there is the added fear and fight for survival)
To be alive, to live, includes elements of risk. Falling in love, we risk being hurt.
Having children, we risk losing them. Following our "dreams", we may risk facing an uncertain future. Caring for others, we risk being rejected. Opening our heart, we risk being taken advantage of and so on........but.....
Loving someone, be it a friend, lover, child, we gain intimacy and connection. Having a go at following our "dreams" we gain esteem, fulfilment and enjoyment. Being compassionate we gain a sense of belonging, of an inner bond with mankind. Having an open heart, we gain the possibility for many wonderful experiences of living, giving and learning.
For the "unknown" to become the "known" to us, there will always be a "gate" of uncertainty
to walk through, question is; what kind of life do we want?
Do we want a life bursting with a myriad of possibilities or a life full of regrets.......either way, uncertainty must be faced.
Change is a constant.
"Everything in the Universe, including man, is a part of an endless flow of life" (Rumi)
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