Uncertainty"”it's something we all encounter in life in varying degrees. It's something that most of us avoid at all costs because it's an uncomfortable space to inhabit. But what is uncertainty really? When you pull back the curtain, the motivation comes through. It's fear. I like to think of fear as an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. I used to be a big fear junkie. At times its grip on me would be so severe it would paralyze me from moving forward or making decisions that were pertinent to living the life I truly wanted.
Right now, in the U.S., there is great uncertainty. A presidential election just took place and there are many in this country right now that are unhappy, distraught and downright scared for what the future holds. Uncertainty can get a bad rap, yes. However, uncertainty can be a tremendous gift. While looking at it from one perspective may show fear, viewing it from another sheds a different light"”one of limitless possibility.
When we are in the throes of the fearful side of uncertainty, though, it can keep us stuck. The fear cycle keeps perpetuating and the situation either goes nowhere or starts a steady decline. The good news is we always have a choice. We can take control over the situation by how we react to it and perceive it. When I realized this, things started to open up and the positive aspects of uncertainty expanded.
How to embrace uncertainty:
Be Kind
It is absolutely essential that you stop beating yourself up. We can have a tendency to be our own worst critic and that doesn't serve us one bit. Take the time to be gentle with yourself. Regardless of your situation and the level of uncertainty, casting blame or being overly critical does not serve you. Exercise kindness toward yourself and others because we're all dealing with something.
Flip It
It is so easy to get caught up in the dreaded "what if" game of worst case scenarios. That isn't healthy. We replay it over and over again and find ourselves worrying about something that hasn't even happened or may never happen! Worrying about something takes the same amount of energy as being hopeful. Why not make the choice to use your energy to be positively minded? Turn those "what if's" around to be something positive and get excited about it! Take the negative, the worry, the doubt and flip it in your favor. The future doesn't exist, we have to create it, so why not start creating positive scenarios.
Stillness
Our minds can go a million miles an hour with over 60,000 thoughts a day! When we're in uncertainty, we can go into overdrive with chaotic worrisome thoughts that trigger like dominos going from one negative thought to the next and into a very troublesome downward spiral. When we take the time to get still and centered, we can more easily find ways to quiet those thoughts. This doesn't have to look like sitting on a mountaintop for hours on end meditating. This can be five minutes with your eyes closed, listening to soothing music. Or five minutes walking through nature. Or five minutes of reciting a positive affirmation. Yes, those thoughts will still try to invade your mind. However, if you let them in and let them pass through without judging them, they won't stay and you'll eventually return to a more peaceful state. Quiet time is essential in this very busy age with constant demands and increasingly fast technology. Going into stillness not only helps us to get more control over our thoughts, but to slow down and get back into the flow of life.
Be of Value
Giving massive value is one of my favorite ways to move out of shaky uncertainty and into positive possibility. When we're spinning in our thoughts and letting fear get its grips on us magnifying the negative end of uncertainty, we are internally focused. We're consumed with our own agenda. However, when we take the focus off of ourselves and elect to give or provide value to others, our negative thoughts and magnification of uncertainty simmer down. They take a backseat. When we are in a state of giving from our hearts to contribute value to a person, place, thing, or cause, our focus becomes external. We not only benefit others by providing value, we receive the benefit of knowing we've done something good and as we continue to do this, our feelings of positivity grow, shifting our focus.
As we move through all of these stages, we start to feel better. When we feel better, we place ourselves in a more advantageous energetic position to get ourselves unstuck, to start moving forward toward what we want, to leave behind the negativity of uncertainty. We start to embrace the positive aspects of uncertainty like excitement, adventure, and miracles! When we take the time to move through these four steps, we access our own powers of transformation, our own magical alchemy laced with the potential to move us toward what we desire most.
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