Embrace
uncertainty and you will thrive. Fear it and you will suffer.
Certainty
is a man-made illusion. Before you were born, where was the certainty that you
would be? When you were an infant, where was the certainty that you would be
provided for, fed on time, cared and loved? As you grew older you were tricked
into this illusion of certainty __ you are sure to have a home, you usually
have both parents with you, siblings, education is guaranteed, and you are bound
to get a job, earn wages and raise a family! How much more simpler Life would
be if only it were to progress in this certain, assured, linear fashion__one
thing leading to another with such predictability and precision?
Just
to demolish this illusion, and wake up to reality, if you live in any part of
urban India, go to a busy traffic intersection closest to you. And after
getting over the shock of seeing so many homeless, destitute children begging
there, strike up a conversation with any or some of them. You will soon
discover how uncertain their lives have been. And continue to be. Maybe some
were abandoned by their parents. Maybe some were kidnapped by organized
racketeers in the begging syndicate. They live on and off the streets. Abused
by people like us who despise their presence and by heartless cops who extort
their meager earnings from them. When you understand their Life’s design, you
will awaken to the inscrutable, uncertain ways of Life. And when you think
about it, you will just be grateful that you were born to your parents and not
to theirs __ and there was no way ever you could have been certain of this
realization until this moment!
It
is also when you are faced with uncertainty for the first time, that you will
stop taking Life for granted. A first layoff, a first health crisis, a first
relationship break-down, a first financial crisis – that’s really when you
begin to realize that perhaps you had read Life differently. That maybe, just
maybe, you cannot really be certain about some things in Life.
The
truth however is that you can be certain about nothing in Life. The way to deal
with uncertainty is to welcome it. Don’t try to wish it away. Because it ain’t
going anywhere. It is always here with you. For instance, if you have a good
job, enough savings and investments to take care of your retirement, where’s
the certainty that your health will be all fine or that your companion still
loves you? Of if you have a health complication and have the best doctors
treating you, where’s the certainty that you will still survive? Where is the
certainty that your family members will live long enough to be with you till
your very end? So, don’t try to crave for a Life without uncertainty. If you
accept Life as being uncertain, you will find joy in each moment.
So, approach Life with a ‘WHAT IS’ than
with a ‘WHAT IF’. ‘What is’ is a celebration of the moment you are in now and
there’s nothing uncertain about that moment. It is happening. So, there can be
no fear of it. ‘What if’ is loathsome, fearsome and amplifies what is not yet.
It is imaginary and breeds suffering. In the end, it is so very simple: when you embrace
uncertainty you will find immense joy and beauty in this totally unpredictable,
inscrutable experience called Life!
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