“Embrace Ambiguity.” The phrase invites us to go with the flow in the face of the unknown. On the surface, the freedom to go with the flow sounds liberating. But in practice, navigating uncertainty and ambiguity can be downright stress-inducing.
From a young age we are recognized and praised for knowing the right answer. But what happens when we just don’t know where to go next, don’t have an answer, or get stuck?
The Stress of Uncertain Times
It’s no secret that we are living in uncertain times. So much of what was once held to be valuable or true, our notions and systems of certainty and security, are not necessarily valued or true any longer. The current is shifting in significant ways, and the future is uncertain.
What happens when the systems that have provided social order and stability breakdown, and are no longer able to do the job for which they were designed? There is a collapse of sorts. And in that collapse a loss of control.
For some that spirals into feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. For others, they grip tightly and cling to what they know, even if those ways are proving unworthy of the needs of the future.
Ambiguity is a symptom of our times, concomitant with a loss of control, direction, security, or of knowing what is true or false, real or fake. And that is stress-inducing.
When I reflect on how to navigate uncertainty and deep ambiguity, I see two interrelated opportunities.
Embrace Ambiguity
This means to accept what is. Rather than allowing feelings that stem from a loss of control or knowing to consume your vital energy, acknowledge and embrace both the feelings and the ambiguity. These are a normal and natural experience in light of uncertain times.
Once you have embraced ambiguity, the second opportunity becomes possible, and this one may be more challenging.
Let Go of the Future
The invitation is to let go of the future you have projected for yourself.
Believe me, I know how odd this may sound (and even harder it is to do). We have been taught that not only should we have the answers, but that we should take control of our lives and shape our futures into the way we want them to be. Think positive, visualize it, attract it, manifest it, create it, be bold, take action! Through the power of belief, vision and will we can craft the future and destiny we want!
To be clear, I’m not denying that this is true. I’m also not saying that this way of living has no place or value. And I’m certainly not saying that you cannot manifest your high dreams.
But it is an example of a system of thought that does not necessarily fit the times, one that for at least the foreseeable future will be uncertain, unpredictable, open-ended and filled with ambiguity. That system of thought asks you to take control of your destiny.
What I am saying is that to navigate periods of deep ambiguity you need to let go of the constant mental act of thinking about the future. In essence, I’m inviting you to let go of the incessant need to clarify and determine your future so that you can greatly reduce the amount of time and energy your mind is spending in the future.
In other words, you need to live now.
Collapse Time in Your Mind
Navigating ambiguity without stress requires that our awareness becomes increasingly present-moment centered. We need to learn to collapse time in our mind. Only then can we deeply sense or intuit…
What is this moment asking of me?
What is needed of me now?
Where does my energy want to go now?
What is it that I am being nudged to do?
Attune to Your Deepest Sense of Self
In the spaciousness of moment-by-moment living, attune to your deepest sense of Self and to the world around you, and let that inner guidance lead you to the next moment.
What is emerging now?
What wants to happen?
What is the opportunity here?
And the biggest questions of them all:
How does love want to extend from me now?
Then decide and act on that awareness in unwavering trust. Your life will then unfold.
The Unfolding Life
It’s quite something to experience. From a state of present awareness, never knowing what the next moment will bring, never being concerned with the ambiguity of an unknown future or outcome, without needlessly overthinking your options and actions, your life unfolds with greater ease and joy.
A year from now, you will find yourself in a place which you could not have foreseen. It may surprise you. It may align perfectly to your intentions. Or it may not. But that won’t actually matter to you, because your life in that moment came about as a result of how you chose to live moment-by-moment for the entire year, liberated from the need for the future to be anything other than it could become as a result of your present-moment choices.
That is one powerful way to live if – and it’s a big if – in each moment you are living fearlessly and in trust. If fear and doubt remain an undercurrent of thought and emotion, your life will still unfold, because it’s doing that anyway, but abiding peace and joy in the face of uncertainty will be elusive, and you will be susceptible to the impulse to control things.
Navigating Uncertainty With Greater Ease and Joy
Many people on the spiritual path have heard of ‘the power of now.’ But in practice it is still a new way to live for most of us. However, this time of uncertainty and ambiguity is not going away anytime soon; it may be our existential reality for decades or centuries to come. So the sooner we learn to navigate these ambiguous times through present-moment living, the more easeful, relaxed and light-filled our life will be.
Such is the way of the enlightened mind. It’s not just a lesson for this time in our history, it’s a lesson in enlightened living for the ages to come.