Getting Comfortable With Uncertainty
People everywhere are the same – people are people. We have far more in common than we have differences between us. And all the differences, or at least the great majority, are on the surface only. That being said, we do have some significant differences in psychology, views, values and habits, even though the underlying condition and psychology of being human is more universal than we tend to imagine.
In terms of dealing with uncertainty, for example, some people have a dread aversion to it, and at the other extreme on the scale, some people thrive on a constant stream of new experiences, new perspectives, new ways of looking at the world, and new ideas. I lean toward the latter, but I too can be nervous about new experiences, even if it is something I strongly want to do. Most people are somewhere in the middle of that scale, between extreme security-consciousness, which means extreme fear, and wanting everything at all times being under control, or at least the illusion of control, and at the other extreme of the spectrum, people who actively seek out new life experiences, new adventures, new ideas, new ways of looking at the world, or new ways of living and being.
Anarchists, artists, creatives, bohemians, free thinkers, all great scientists, thinkers, philosophers and scholars, and all rebels and free spirits, are at or near one end of the scale, between fear-based clinging to an imaginary order and illusory certainty and control, and at the other end of the scale, those who value innovation, creativity, spontaneity, naturalness, positive change, or freedom. Fascists, fundamentalists, ideologues and control freaks, along with mousey conformists and obsessive rule-followers, are at the other extreme.
Fundamentalists, fascists, technocrats, bureaucrats, engineers, ideologues, partisan zealots, oligarchs, perfectionists and control freaks cling desperately to an illusion of control, and an illusion of certainty, at all times. They tend to drive themselves and others crazy, but this is their habit. Most people are not so extreme, but most people hesitate before uncertainty, new ideas, new perspectives, new or different ways of living or doing things, or new life experiences.
The fascists, the fundamentalists and the ideologues are hard to reach. Their minds are locked in stone. It is not to that insane clown posse that I speak, but to the other 80% of the people who are a little more sane.
Uncertainty causes anxiety in most people, although you can look at uncertainty as being a mystery and an adventure, and turn your anxiety into excitement, and joy. But in any case, in reality, it is not uncertainty that causes anxiety: it is attachment that causes anxiety. Cut your attachments, and be free of anxiety. Simplify, simplify, as Thoreau said. And do read Walden, or read it again. Get comfortable with uncertainty. Everything is impermanent, fleeting, transitory. Life is always uncertain and unpredictable: it is only illusion that makes us think that anything in life is certain. Only death is certain. Everything else is uncertain. When we get comfortable with the fact that life is unpredictable, then anxiety is replaced by tranquility, peace and joy. Then only, does life open up to reveal its magnificence and splendour. Then only, do we begin to truly live.
JTR,
April 26, 2021
Writings of J. Todd Ring 
April 26, 2021 at 2:29 pm
Post-Script:
I think now of a few books I have been meaning to read, for years now, and which pertain to this topic. Among them:
Comfortable With Uncertainty, by Pema Chodron
The Cloud of Unknowing – author anonymous, I believe
The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt
And some that I have read that I would also recommend:
Oh The Thinks You Can Think, by Dr. Suess – yes, adults can and should read Dr. Suess! He will tell you things the scholars and pundits, the media talking heads and youtubers have forgotten, or never knew to begin with.
I Can Read With My Eyes Shut, by Dr. Suess
Escape From Freedom, by Erich Fromm
A History of God, by Karen Armstrong
The Lankavatara Sutra
The Hero With A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
And the one book everyone should read, even if they only read one book in their life:
Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
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April 26, 2021 at 2:58 pm
I generally dislike jargon, jingo and slang, but I will say this. Step outside your comfort zone, at least once in a while. Try new things, and be open to new ideas and different perspectives. You don’t have to adopt or even agree with what you are listening to or reading, but do try to broaden your mind and your horizons. I can guarantee that, as Shakespeare said, “There is more to heaven and earth than is contained in your philosophy.” And as Einstein said, “Common sense is the set of prejudices acquired by the age of eighteen.” Or as Lao Tzu said, “The older man gets, the stupider he gets, because he was born soft and supple, but he dies rigid and hard.” Rigidity is stupidity. Life is flux, life is change. And life is much bigger, and richer and more magnificent, than most people dare to imagine. As Hellen Keller said, “Life is a daring adventure, or nothing.” Dare to live. And to truly live, is to live courageously. That means getting accustomed to uncertainty. Trust yourself. That is the key. When you trust yourself, you don’t feel threatened, and therefore, you can live more fully, more bravely, more compassionately and more freely, and in peace.
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April 26, 2021 at 3:47 pm
Also relevant:
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April 26, 2021 at 4:23 pm
The subject of uncertainty makes me think of something my favourite writer, Henry David Thoreau said. “Men are determined not to live by faith alone.” How true that is. And what a sad and tragic life that creates! Poverty consciousness is the result, and a life based in fear and mistrust, which is always a disaster, and a pathetic, meagre existence.
Which makes me think of fundamentalists in particular. Talk about a community devoid of faith! Fundamentalists don’t have faith. They have dogma, which is fervent belief – that, they mistakenly call faith. They rant and rave like lunatics about faith, but they have none. Their fervent and frequently vitriolic dogma proves they have none. But they are adamant that other people should have faith! They need to take the log out ofbtheir own eye before trying to take the splinter out of their neighbour’s eye. And they need to trust the divine spirit which they proclaim loudly to have so much faith in!
God does not like smugness, you can be sure. Dogma is false pride. Get over it. Your mind is tiny compared to God’s mind. Accept it. Your petty theories and beliefs are sandcastles, nothing more.
Be humble. Have real faith. And faith is not dogma. In fact, dogmatism is the opposite of faith, and the barrier to true faith. Admit that you are not omniscient! Admit that you don’t know everything! Admit they it just might be possible that you could, ocassionally, be wrong.
And note that there are more secular fundamentalists than religious fundamentalists in the world now. But they are the same: rabid, venom-spitting, closed-minded fools.
You may or may not be spiritual or religious, but every life, if it is to be lived well, or wisely, richly, or even sanely, requires faith of some measure and of some kind. If you have no faith in a higher wisdom, you are in a sad and blind state, and living in a shallow grave, quite frankly. But at the very least, we should have faith in ourselves. If we cannot muster even that much, then our lives will be one long series of disasters, or banality, or both.
As Alan Watts said, and he was right: “People who mistrust themselves and others are doomed.”
Trust yourself. Faith is trust. Faith is confidence. At the very least, and what is most essential, is that we have faith and trust in ourselves. Trust yourself. That alone will make a world of difference, I can assure you.
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April 26, 2021 at 4:44 pm
That is why secular and religious fundamentalists tend to be on the far right: they live in fear and mistrust, they have no true faith in a higher wisdom, nor any faith or trust in themselves, and so, they want the government to be a stern and guiding father-figure who will save them from the terrible burden of freedom, which they dread, which necessitates making their own decisions, and taking responsibility for themselves. They are perpetual children – and not in the good sense, but in the infantile sense.
Frequently they want the government to be their mother and their father both. They want a father figure to tell them what to do, to proect them, and to tell them what is real, and what to believe. And they want the government to be their nurturing, comforting, breast-feeding mother, as well. It is infantile, and it is extremely dangerous. The power-hungry love it, however, because it plays right into their hands, and the foolish and facile people are disuaded from believing in themselves, and instead they are persuaded into believing they are hopelessly dependent on the government and the state. That makes people easy to control, easy to manipulate, easy to deceive, and easy to subjugate, rob, plunder, pillage, exploit, and devour. The predatory elite love such mass psychology. Not all politicians and business elites are so corrupt, but the clear indications are undeniable: most are.
Trust yourself. That is your best defence – and your greatest power, creative force, and strength. Trust yourself. It cannot be empasized enough.
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April 26, 2021 at 5:21 pm
The fascists and authoritarians want to turn human society into an ant farm. If that does not sound appealing to you, trust yourself – that is the only way to stop it. Question everything. Think for yourself. And trust yourself. That is not only a matter of richness of life, and quality of life; it is also a matter of liberation, and self-defence.
Uncertainty is part of life. If we cling to an illusion of certainty, or illusions of safety, or security, or order, which are closely related and intertwined, we will become fear-driven, and we will forge our own blinders and chains – if not the blinders and chains for others, as well.
Trust yourself.
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