By Lizabeth Roemer, Ph.D., and Josh Bartok, M.S.
In times such as these, life may seem more uncertain than ever—but meeting uncertainty has always been part of our lives. Whenever we try new things, we are putting ourselves into uncertain contexts that could contain social threats, disappointments, or hurt. When our routines change (due to a new school year, transition at work, move, birth, death, or break-up), we face uncertainty about how we will adapt and what the near or far future might look like. And of course, right now, our sociopolitical context is filled with sources of uncertainty—the impact of climate change, high-stakes political upheavals, economic challenges, and other injustices and sources of real and potential harm.
Psychological research indicates that uncertainty is related to mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. It is human to experience fear and distress, and it is human to have a desire to constrict or avoid when faced with uncertain threats or challenges. Often uncertain contexts lead to habits of worry—trying to plan, predict, or avoid threat by going through possibilities in our mind and choosing actions that will, we superstitiously imagine, somehow guarantee our safety. Planning is helpful in many cases, of course, but when there isn’t a problem we can solve with planning, this becomes a habit of worry that can leave us feeling more anxious, limiting and restricting our lives.
The following three-part approach can help you to face the inevitable uncertainty you encounter in ways that expand, rather than constrict, your life.
Notice when you encounter uncertainty
The first step in making meaningful, intentional changes in your habitual reactions is noticing the opportunities for this change. Consider how your mind and body react to uncertainty. You may notice a pit in your stomach, a tension across your shoulders, your mind getting busy and coming up with multiple potential outcomes to a given situation, or a sense of shutting down and wanting to avoid engaging in certain situations. Identifying how uncertainty shows up in your body and mind will help you recognize moments when you are having a strong reaction to uncertainty, so that you can practice a new response. And then, once you’ve noticed this, you can simply name it and acknowledge its presence, “Ah yes, uncertainty is here, and reactions are arising.”
Cultivate curiosity instead of seeking certainty
Having noticed and named the pull of habitual reactions to uncertainty, you can look more deeply at them. Notice, for instance, reactions that involve seeking certainty (avoiding, worrying, frantically trying to find a way to counter uncertainty), and then invite yourself to practice being curious about the context you find yourself in. When your mind tells you that you are definitely in danger, ask yourself whether there are any other possibilities or realities. When you feel a rush of anxious arousal, notice what that feels like in your body, rather than judging it or assuming your anxious thoughts are “true.” Do you notice anything beyond, behind, or amid the anxiety? You may find it helpful to intentionally cultivate spacious awareness with curiosity. Are there other thoughts arising, or other sensations you can notice in your body? Does the intensity of your bodily sensations vary over time?
Anything you do to disrupt the habitual constriction tied to uncertainty will enhance your ability to find ways to thrive even when you don’t know what may come next. Changing habits takes practice—keep applying strategy again and again, with compassion for yourself for your natural, human reactions.
Choose meaningful actions amid uncertainty
Although you may naturally have an impulse to constrain, avoid, or control in the face of uncertainty, you can instead choose to act according to what matters to you, what actions are in line with being, in this moment, the person you mean to be. Notice that you are constricting or worrying in response to uncertainty; practice loosening this habitual reaction by cultivating curiosity and acknowledging that not knowing truly is a whole and legitimate response to the reality that you do not know (which is to say, don’t let the reality of not knowing turn into a fictional certainty that you do know that things are as certainly dangerous as your anxious arousal is telling you). From this place of pausing in curiosity, you can consider how you would like to act in this moment.
While we often cannot control the external events that elicit fears and uncertainty, we do have control and agency over how we act in response to them. In any moment, you can choose to take one single step toward the person you’d like to be. And the beauty of this is that you can do it even while you feel anxious and uncertain, even while you feel scared. Values-based actions won’t eliminate uncertainty or remove anxiety, but they will often add a sense of purpose, meaning, or satisfaction, which can enhance your well-being and reduce the negative impact of uncertainty and anxiety.
Josh Bartok is a contemplative photographer and life coach, and the author of two children’s books.
