Will she say yes to me? Will I get that job offer? Will I get admission into that college? Will I be able close the deal with those clients? Will I perform well on stage tonight?
It is thoughts such as these that trouble our minds and make us unhappy. Why do we torture ourselves in this manner? What makes these thoughts pervade our minds day in and day out? It is the same reason that people turn to Astrology, Numerology, Palmistry, Tarot Cards, etc to tell them their future. It is the Uncertainty. People have never been able to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen to them. Hence we expend all our energy worrying about the future rather than living in the moment. Our inability to come to terms with this uncertainty makes us suffer.
To deal with the uncertainty, we must first learn to give up the one thing we never had and never will have i.e. Control. We cannot control what will happen in our lives and in the lives of others around us. She may like me or she may not. I may get the job offer or I may not. We must accept that we cannot know how things will turn out. This is the first true realization i.e. not knowing. Once this simple truth dawns upon us then we will have taken the first step towards becoming comfortable with uncertainty.
Consider this situation. What if you were told by a reliable source (say your God), without any room for doubt, about everything that will happen in your future? Say, that you could know all the complete and accurate details about every single day of the rest of your life. Would you like to know this? The first instinct of most people would be Yes, we would like to know. Then we would never have to worry again and our minds would be at peace. But, think about it again. Would you really want to know? If you knew every single thing that is to happen on every single day, then would there be any joy in living that life? If you already knew everything, then you would be reduced to a spectator in your own life. It would be like watching a movie when you know exactly what will happen in every scene. Do you enjoy watching such a movie? Or would you rather watch a movie where it is full of unpredictable twists and turns and you don't where it is heading next?
Thinking about this, we can see that uncertainty is not only inevitable but is also a good thing. Without uncertainty, our lives would be dull and devoid of joy. It is the uncertainties that bring us happiness. If I always knew that she would say yes to me, then, I wouldn't have bought her flowers, hired musicians and gone to all that trouble to win her affections. But, would I be that happy if I already knew how things would turn out and didn't have to bother to do all those things? Probably not. If I knew for certain that I was going to get the job, then I wouldn't have spent time making my resume, preparing for the interview, getting a new suit, etc. Again, if I didn't do all those things with the knowledge that I was to get the job, would the offer give me much joy? Again, it would not. It is the journey that brings us happiness and not the destination. These journeys would not exist without the uncertainty.
We must accept the uncertainties of our lives as they are. We should learn to start liking the uncertainty. Savor the journey and banish from the mind all thoughts of the outcome. We must live in the here and the now and enjoy the moment. If we can do this, we will find that most of our troubles cease to be troubles anymore.
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