How To Proceed Through Uncertainty

From my recent piece, Organize Your Sock Drawer, “For unpleasant states, the quicker one can identify with something outside of this state, and accordingly adjust the reflecting thoughts, the quicker the state will be changed. In class, when you become bored, you find a distraction to pass the time. We’re all just passing the time, and we might as well enjoy it.”

/I like to intertwine my work together, and for the best reading experience, you may find it helpful as well. I link all of my pieces together where I can./

Disguised by an illusion of the expected routine of tomorrow is the truth of the uncertain reality of today. A plan is nothing more than an expectation placed on a time, and yet, without this expectation for something to happen, life’s truth prevails as the bliss of the present. The uncertain world is the certain world; we may all agree that what tomorrow holds is frankly none of the business of today. However, to keep the progress of time flowing for one’s own sake, a plan appears to be the most necessary approach to uncertainty. A plan provides us with a certain expectation for ourselves, and when an expectation is met, a timestamp may be placed to view our progress. Setting expectations for ourselves, or goals, provides us with a positive outlook for progressing through time. Nonetheless, in all the preparation one can do for life, uncertain times remain inevitable.  

The good news is that you’ve arrived today. Every uncertain time has still brought you to the present moment. We’ve all already survived uncertainty, and the likelihood for today to be as uncertain as yesterday and tomorrow is relative to the amount of certainty one has provided for themselves. Weekends left unplanned bring a kind of uncertainty of wonder for how one will fill the time. Meanwhile, a larger ending, such as a graduation, brings a more daunting uncertainty of how one will fill the time. In both cases, the uncertain time belongs to a certain individual. And still, uncertain situations can arise that one could not be prepared for.

Perhaps one should learn to expect and accept an uncertain future. Following a plan keeps one on a path, but remaining flexible to the inevitable aids in the recovery from deviation. Life will mold us into someone different between the person who sets the goal and the person who achieves the goal. This molding will shape new futures and plans. Being open to the possibility of becoming someone different than who you expected yourself to be eases the unpreventable reality that people change, and so do you.

All of the time is uncertain. Proceeding as though we have complete control over the inventory of our experiences limits the room for growth and acceptance of redirection. Opportunities arise without warning; catastrophe occurs without warning. In both scenarios, the uncertain state of being rises to the occasion, challenging the individual to proceed in a way that continues to align themselves with their best interest in mind. Beyond the control of the individual, life’s events exist on an endless string through time, in which we will come to meet them when we arrive. Our control lies in the response to all that is uncertain.

How time passes remains an experience owned by each person and constructed by how they perceive the world. The uncertainty of time is the constant certainty shared by the collective, constructing a world around the expectation of tomorrow, based on the validation of today’s existence. We’re all just passing the time, and how it becomes characterized is the responsibility of the individual to take ownership of the moment by living for the present. The coexistence of an individual’s plan for the future and the ability to live in the now will enable them to make the necessary decisions that align with their predetermined expectations. Upon the arrival of something unplanned in the present, the individual’s plan for themselves will take the driver’s seat, leading them through uncertainty. Keep your eyes on the prize when distractions arise in disguise. An uncertain glow will fill the room, but the decisive individual will bloom.necessary decisions