You Always Knew the Way

Have you ever felt like your life exists in suspended animation between certainty and uncertainty? You wake up to a drastically changing world and worry that the pace of change exceeds your coping skills. Your constant need for answers threatens your relationships, your goals, and your passions. You feel on the verge of lunacy and the full moon is still weeks away. How can you keep your sanity and more importantly, your peace of mind in the face of so much uncertainty?

Living with life’s uncertainty exhausts you. You feel forced to acquire new tools for navigating and adjusting to a new and unknown landscape. But what if you simply lack the will to accept uncertainty right now?

Despite what your heart whispers, your mind battles against you. You want to understand and make sense of the present. The thought of not knowing where you will land holds you back from living the life you always wanted. If only you could see beyond the present. You want to gather everything in one fell swoop and cling on to it for dear life.

Besides dealing with the uncertainty and the chaos of outward changes, internal transformation beckons. You feel the call to stretch, to trust, and to surrender to a new way of living. Everything seems particularly intense at the moment. Right now, stability appears unreachable and unrealistic.

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Being in uncertainty creates extreme psychological discomfort because we feel we lack the time and resources with which to build sound foundations. We would rather have bad news now than endure the stress of not knowing what the future holds. It’s as if you’re standing at the edge of a cliff looking down moment by moment, fearing that you could fall at any time. Not knowing what’s coming next feels paralyzing.

Pessimism rules that existence.

Fear stops you from venturing into the darkness. If you’re open to experiencing something new, then suddenly you don’t see darkness but rather the light of assurance. It unlocks your creative passion and oxygenates your curiosity to find out what might await you on the other side. Let go of illusions that you can somehow control your future. Embrace the impossibility of knowing exactly what is. Relish the mystery. Accept each perceived obstacle as a prospect for expansion.

Believe that brighter opportunities are on the horizon. Uncertainties are real. You can’t pretend it away or ignore it. Whatever appears solid, stable, and familiar can change at a moment’s notice.

When coping with uncertainty don’t perceive ambiguity as a threat. You can be receptive amid improbable situations that might threaten to disrupt your routines and your best-laid plans.

Remind yourself to come to terms with the uncertainty that surrounds the future you yearn for and be at peace with it. Understand that buried underneath all these struggles and inconveniences are lessons that will emerge to help you live through and survive the ordeal.

There’s a cycle, and a process involved. Know that the emotions will arise. There will be tumultuous confusion. You’ll waver between what is right and wrong. This is where you must be ready to up-level and transform so that when the time comes to enter those darker, scarier aspects of the experience, you’ll discover that you can be just fine.

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Despite not knowing for certain where the road might lead or how you’re going to get there, keep the faith and keep moving forward. Quit fighting the natural flow of life. Choose to see this event as a chance to pursue a new opportunity that’s more in alignment with your goals and dreams.

When life leaves you feeling stressed and scattered, learn to master the art of stillness. There are few things that feel better than sitting still and paying attention. When you’re still, you’re not looking at what’s coming but celebrating what is. You are ready and waiting. Life becomes beautiful when you stop trying to figure out all the answers. Be still in the moment.

Coincidences and meaningful discoveries happen during times of chaos, when you dare to venture into what seems like unlikely places. Those places can lead to an array of positive outcomes, no matter what changes happen around you. You just have to move patiently and calmly through it. Any anxious feeling that arises is not a signal you’re doing something wrong, only that you’re trying something new.

At some point, even if you still feel the fear, push through it. Instead of fighting, move towards it. Tap into that stronger, more resilient and wiser self. You’ll realize you can take on the unknown and survive, because you already know how.

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Thanks to Yohanan Marcus.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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