Sunday, December 18, 2005

Living with uncertainty

It seems to me that there are periods in the development of a person or a species where uncertainty is inevitable, and you gotta live with it.
When you are changing from a great world view to a completely different world view, and they are incompatible, then there is a period in the middle where everything is swimming, when you have lost the old, comfortable moorings in your reality, and you have not yet found the new ones. And it is very unpleasant.
And I think it is very important to learn to live with it. To say "OK, so I can't find the bottom with my feet at the moment, and the water is choppy and cold, and I don't know when things will change... but it will be all right soon, it always is."
Because the alternatives are either to never let go of the old moorings, meaning you never progress, or to panic, and you drown. So just relax and keep swimming.

5 comments:

Michael Kolodziej said...

I think this is a wonderful post. You phrase it well.

I am currently trying to continually remind myself of this, so I don't get too lost in the present.

Nobilis Reed said...

If I hadn't learned this attitude, I would have lost my mind years ago.

"The only constant is change"

I'm entering one of those times in my own life, right now. But at my age... they don't scare me like they used to.

Hannah said...

I can't say that I enjoy being uncertain, though - I cling to the certainty that one day I'll be certain again. :)

Zeppellina said...

Excellent post Eolake.

Zeppellina said...

Merry Christmas to you Eolake, hope it has been a good one.x

Zep.