Benefits of Resting in Uncertainty

One of the rocket fuels on the spiritual path is cultivating the ability to rest in a state of not knowing, or uncertainty. The egoic mind usually does not like uncertainty and tends to feel safe and comfortable when it feels like it has some semblance of control. Yet rarely does life always flow in exactly the way we would have it, without any surprises or unknowns.

We also have cultural conditioning to needing to know what is going on. It is a common practice in most school systems we grew up in to reward us when we got the answers right but if we didn’t there were consequences. The emphasis was strongly on getting everything right. The egoic mind tends to close down and feel anxious when it finds itself in a state of uncertainty. It can block our creativity and effectiveness if we have a fear of ‘getting it wrong’. The mind goes into great resistance around the experience of not knowing which only makes matter worse because the energy of resistance itself can block the flow of life.

So how do we do work with uncertainty? One trick is simply to repeat to yourself when you feel the anxiousness arising over something you are confused about, “Can I just allow myself to be confused in this moment?’ Breathe deeply as you say this to yourself.

Learning to just be present, and relax into, that state of unknowingness, or uncertainty, without trying to move out of it or fill it with something else, can be hugely beneficial. When we don’t resist that state oftentimes an inner sense of peacefulness and calm comes forward. And in that peacefulness even a sense of inner knowingness as well. It is one of those paradoxes we sometimes encounter in life, when we don’t resist what is happening things oftentimes become clear and we get a sense of what action, if any, would be most beneficial for all concerned. And since we can rarely control the way life unfolds it is helpful to be able to cultivate a healthy relationship with this aspect of life.

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