Navigate uncertainty like a pro

Uncertainty is a natural part of this Life's flow which goes through cycles that mark change, from the rising and falling ocean tides, to the sprouting and browning of plants, to the waxing and waning of the Moon, to the rising and setting of the Sun, to the Summer heat and Winter cold, to the birthing and dying of the living, etc..

Whatever the circumstances, transitional times can generate feelings of uncertainty within. How will these changes go? What will they bring? Where will they take us? How can we best navigate them? The answers to such questions are generally in the realm of the unknown which can feed our sense of uncertainty or even insecurity.

Identifying our patterns

During such times it is helpful to bring our awareness to how we deal with feelings of uncertainty. Do we shrink back or step forward? Do we default into energy-draining habits or upshift into more nourishing ones? Do we choose based on short-term relief or long-term gains? Do we slip into mindless distraction or honor what we really need in the moment?

Maybe what we really need in the moment is a good mindless distraction. If we come to that from a place of true self-awareness, no problem, but if we come to that from a place of detached default and lack of self-awareness, we probably aren't doing ourselves any favors. In fact, we may be inadvertently adding to our sense of distress in the long run.

Navigating our patterns

Uncertain times ask us to step up our self-awareness game. We don't have to go overboard (which can add to our stress), but it's prudent to step back and reflect on what we really feel, need, want, and how to best support ourselves in the moment. Practicing self-awareness and doing a little self-reflection can take us farther faster than slipping into unhealthy, unhelpful default patterns to avoid our deeper truths. These truths won't go away. They'll just keep niggling at us until we embrace them.

As an example let's say that when we feel uncertain or insecure, we lean more heavily into comfort foods, which by definition tend to have an overall negative impact on our health and wellness. These foods may give us momentary relief but not lasting relief. Before we know it, we're reaching for that food again and again without getting the longterm relief we really want. Plus, by indulging the unhealthy default habit, we may create new issues we then have to deal with.

Changing our patterns

Changing our default habits or patterns is simple, really. The first step is to notice it. The second step is to pause when we notice it. The third step is to self-reflect for clarity. And the fourth step is to make an aware choice. For example:

Notice: I'm reaching for the chips again.

Pause: Hmm. Let me stop and take a breath.

Self-reflect:

• Does my body really want more chips?

• What do I really need right now?

• Am I avoiding something?

• Am I ignoring something?

• Am I stuffing something?

• Will more chips take care of that?

• Will more chips help me be a better me?

• Am I really hungry or am I emotional or comfort eating?

• What deeper feeling, need, or want is this eating trying to satisfy?

• What deeper truth is stirring beneath the surface layers of my being?

• How might I embrace that deeper truth more honestly and satisfy it more directly?

• What can I try this time that I haven't tried before?

• What new choice can I make in this moment to see what happens, to see what might change?

• What might be a more empowering action to take for myself?

Aware Choice: If you choose the chips, you do so with full awareness that it provides short term comfort or relief and is not a longterm solution. Or, you use your awareness to consciously choose something different that is part of a longterm solution.

As we get more practiced at self-awareness, self-reflection, and conscious choice-making, we find that our choices begin to shift on their own, organically. That's because we really do want what serves us best in the long run. We really do want to feel good, be happy, have vibrant health and supportive relationships, and to enjoy our lives rather than slip into self-sabotage default habits. And we can...one aware step at a time.

Every day is a new day, every moment a new moment. Take things one aware moment, one simple choice, one single day at a time. Just do your best, whatever that is in any given moment on any given day. That's all any of us can do. That's it. Nothing else is required of us then that. And that is enough.