The Wisdom of Uncertainty and How To Use It
Recently, I changed my name from Gangotri to Chanchal. A name change is no small thing, and there is a long story behind it. Without getting into the details of it, one of the reasons I have deeply embraced my new name is the meaning it holds. My name is from the land of my ancestors in India. Translated literally, it means unstable, chaotic, impatient, naughty, playful and restless. As I sat with these words, I felt their power rising up within me.
For me, Chanchal is a name that reminds me to embrace my innate rhythms that align with the changing seasons. It reminds me that my essence might not always be aligned with the norms around me. In my own attunement, I may appear to be unstable, chaotic and impatient as I question the norms that have been put on the pedestal of stability. Don’t get me wrong, stability has its place on the spectrum on which it exists with its opposite-instability. This name ordains an unwillingness to abide by the rules or a naughtiness that gratifies me. It inspires me to make space for expansion and evolution while welcoming a playful approach to every challenge that comes my way. Most of all, Chanchal reminds me that uncertainty is a power I can learn to use within my ever-changing self and in an ever-changing world.
In this article, we’ll discuss how uncertainty can be an endless source of evolving power that can replace brittle methods once believed to provide stability and optimal results.
Here’s what we’ll dive into:
What is certainty and why it is the source of our burnout and miscommunication
Cultivating a grounded sense of self and your place in the world instead of controlling or forcing outcomes
The true essence of uncertainty and how it expands consciousness and improves relationships, creativity, and productivity.
How embracing uncertainty makes your life feel more natural, playful, and meaningful
ON CERTAINTY: what’s really making us exhausted to the bones
When you look up the etymology of the word certain, here’s some of the words that come up:
• fixed
• proved
• resolved
• sure
That all sounds great, right? After all, we’re all trained to pursue solutions and resolutions, to be sure of our path and its destination. And yet, is that what we really want? Is this really possible?
To be fixed means we have stopped evolving. We, in essence, are blocked or prevented from going through the natural process of growth and decomposition. We are set in stone. Lifeless. This is the definition of death. It’s exhausting trying to live when we have died to the magic of possibility, evolution, and the nature of life itself.
Ultimately, when we become sure of something, we close ourselves off to possibilities, and we find ourselves unconsciously reacting to life based on old patterns rather than new circumstances. We are certain we know. We are sure, regardless of new incoming information that might be trying to tell us otherwise.
“The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.”
-Pema Chödrön
Life is naturally flowing and changing all the time. We get tired when we struggle to be unmoved in a current and tide that could carry us to unknown destinations without any effort at all. Uncertainty is the natural current of life. All of our planning, analyzing, and projecting can quickly take over our perspective, and the last thing we want is for all that effort to “go to waste.”
Many of us are bone-exhausted trying to follow paths of security–the secure paycheck, the promised reward, the definitive identity, the predictable day. When we let go of grasping and when we stop avoiding and resisting the reality of uncertainty, we can finally enter a flow state of ease. We learn to respond to every moment with fresh eyes and a beginner’s mind. We ask ourselves what’s possible? What’s different? What can I learn here? How will this help me develop another part of myself?
We exchange our tight grip on certainty and fall into an easy rhythm that is void of should’s and expectations for all participants.
“A false sense of security is the only kind there is.”
-Irish Poet
GROUNDED, NOT CERTAIN
So if we can’t be certain of anything, what can we hold onto? Life can’t be all flow. In the yin and yang of a balanced life, we do need structure. Here’s where grounding becomes a crucial practice in a world of uncertainty.
Grounding is a practice of our inner realm. We do not ground to anything external, which is bound to change in some way or another at any moment. We can be grounded in our own values, inner resources, and the very breath that keeps us alive. Being grounded is not being certain.
When we are grounded we trust in our own ability to get through whatever situation shows up next. When we’re grounded, we don’t fear the dark because our roots keep us steady as the winds howl all around us and the noise of storms drowns out all other voices.
Ultimately, grounding is getting real with ourselves, our co-workers, our families and friends. It’s integrity. We show up whole with healthy boundaries, knowing when and how to listen and when and how to speak up.
THE REALITY AND BENEFITS OF UNCERTAINTY
When we embrace uncertainty we expand our possibilities, engage our imagination, and improve our creativity. We let go of limiting and brittle patterns of certainty in our mind that have become fixed over years of repetition. We think we know, until we realize we don’t know. This can either be incredibly
devastating if we have attached our identity to certain outcomes, or it can be profoundly liberating to know we are not bound to the past or how things used to be.
When uncertainty arrives at our door, moment to moment, we have an opportunity to get curious and imagine something that has never happened for us before. We can imagine a different outcome, a new process, a more thoughtful response. Uncertainty sparks our imagination and opens us to inspiration, whereas certainty closes down our natural relationship to inspiration and innovation.
Ultimately, uncertainty requires us to be creative. When what worked yesterday isn’t working today, we are being summoned by creativity. In an age of algorithms and endless data, our creativity has become dull as we rely on forces outside ourselves to tell us what to do next. Algorithms often keep us trapped in the patterns of the past, rather than helping us move forward with the pure energy of creativity that keeps our vitality alive and well.
“Expectations keep us from noticing and playing with exciting possibilities that always surround us. As long as we insist that things have to be a certain way, we limit our vision. When we let go of our expectations, we live with a greater sense of creativity, curiosity, and possibility.”
-Susan Jeffers
LIVING A LIFE THAT FEELS GOOD BEFORE IT MIGHT LOOK GOOD
When things are uncertain, we often feel a sense of darkness. Our modern world is terrified of the dark. In reality however, we have built in senses that help us move through the shadow. We can listen, feel, or smell our way through. And so it is with uncertainty–it unlocks unused resources within us. We learn to feel our way through it and develop an ecology of skills that can sustain us through any circumstance or situation.
Our modern culture is obsessed with how things look. We want the numbers to look right. We want to see a certain number in our bank account. We want others to see what house we live in and what boards we sit on. And yet, many of us suffer because even though life may look good on paper, it doesn’t feel good in our hearts. We chase certainty believing it will help us feel good. But it never does. It fixes us in place, and dulls our creativity.
When we surrender to and welcome uncertainty, the fun really begins. We are reminded that we don’t have all the answers–what a relief! Somehow everything becomes less serious, and more sacred and joyful. Each moment becomes a dance that we get to make up as we go along. We develop a natural rhythm that is not rigid and metric. We flow. And it feels absolutely magnificent.
