Certainly Uncertain

REPOST: August 31st, 2015

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.

Brene Brown

Human beings, throughout the history of mankind, have aimlessly searched to answer one single question - how do I discover a deeper sense of inner peace? What is the magical formula? In the West we tend to lean toward science to answers these questions; mostly because we crave certainty. We want a diagnosis and a doctor’s note to provide the resolution. Unfortunately, life cannot be cookie cut. 

In the East, they hold a different perspective. They understand that life cannot contain certainty. In fact, uncertainty is the one absolute. We are all going to experience change. All of us will get old. At some point we will have ill health. Eventually we will die. Our friends and loved ones will leave us. What we have today, may be gone tomorrow. Pleasure will become pain. Gain will become loss. Praise will become blame and fame will become disrepute.

Despite this huge amount uncertainty, we must not be overcome by it. We must continue to live every moment with complete presence; appreciate every smell and savior every site. We must honor each breath as if it is the only breath that matters. If we can show up in this way with everything we do, then the mind will settle into the heart. When the heart and mind become one, inner peace is the only thing that can exist.