Seeking Responses In Times Of Uncertainities
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
In these times, when the pace of change exceeds my ability to adapt, I find myself faced with ever increasing uncertainty. “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” “What is my purpose?” “Who will walk beside me?” “How do I develop the experience and skills needed to reach my goals?” As anxieties mount, I know I must confront my uncertainties. I can either shout to the heavens, "I DON'T KNOW!" Or believe. Believe that despite the weather and waves being uncertain, my boat is sturdy, and with my best effort, I will not be drowned.
Uncertainty abounds!
Technology, emerging political alignments, increasing population and changes in career opportunities are some of the several developments that are increasing uncertainty and the stress therefrom.
Why has uncertainty increased and why are responses to uncertainty are so different, even among members of the same family?
a) Some of us have lost faith in modern ways of thinking and in technology as ways of responding to opportunities and to threats in the social and human aspects of this postmodern age. In search for more effective ways of responding, some of us tend to place an increased emphasis on traditional approaches that we feel have worked for centuries. Others see the world differently and create other (innovate) new, more flexible approaches if they have the freedom to do so.
b) The stages of psychosocial and moral development that people pass through as they grow from babyhood to adulthood influence how they respond to an increasing variety of realities and the frustrations caused by variety. As one progresses through these stages of development, they can better appreciate the different perspectives that other persons and organizations take toward important social and human issues.
c) There are limitations in our language and discourse that restrict and distort our perceptions and our thinking about the fair and just ways to respond to persons from different social and/or cultural backgrounds. Our thinking and analyses are prone to suffer from dualistic divisions wherein one is either right or wrong and there is no in-between.
How do people respond to uncertainties?
There are five considerations that contribute to variability in responses to uncertainty. One part of the variability results from the different generational backgrounds of persons living in our own neighborhoods, towns and state. A second contribution comes from the limitations our language imposes on our thinking and actions. The third contribution is related to how our brain influences and limits our creativity. A fourth source to variability is rooted in stages of psychosocial development. A fifth source of variability, and perhaps one that has the greatest impact on variability overlaps the others, and is the changes in constructions of reality as we move from the pre-enlightenment era to the postmodern era, a trend that leads to a much increased number of alternative and conflicting worldviews.
Uncertainty has led several people to weaken their commitments: to community, to employer, to maintaining balances in our ecosystems, and/or to the democratic process in general. All this makes our lives less certain, and living with uncertainty is stressful.
One response to uncertainty is to regress to old ways that seemed to have worked in the past. This is exemplified by the car-driver who steps on the gas pedal and expects to go forward, but is on a road covered with slippery ice. The car doesn't move and the driver then pushes down harder on the gas pedal. That approach works on dry pavement, but not on ice.
Another approach is by seeking and testing responses to one's actions or commands. Children often test a new teacher to see whether the limits for acceptable behavior have changed.
A third response is to be creative and explore new approaches to changed conditions. A fourth is to give up trying to adapt, the do nothing or wait-and-see approach.
A fifth is to assign blame for one's loss of freedom and confusion by blaming one or the other aspects of the modern era. A combination of fatalism and blaming others is evident in the language of the Latinos when they say, "The bus left
Looking at examples of uncertainties and how people sought responses
The violent events of 9/11 and the more subtle, though no less fear engendering, anthrax assaults on the workplace that followed, posed tremendous challenges to people. How people responded to such events and prepared for future ones would have critical consequences for their health and well-being. In such times of uncertainties, the onus laid on leaders to help minimize and ameliorate the psychological impact of terrorist violence. The most effective leaders were visible, conveying a sense of hope and optimism while being realistic, and were calm and calming, all the time communicating both what is known and what is not known. New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was a visible presence while providing hope and honest information. At another level, after speaking about the troubles facing the American Airlines, its CEO announced that "But better days are coming. I strongly believe in the future of
In the stock market, it is assumed that everything that is known about a stock is included in the price. How does this work? One of the ways it does work is that before trading, many investors attempt to find out as much as they can about a company.
They read the newspapers, follow brokers’ advice and generally do their homework in terms of knowing their company. If the outlook is bad or suddenly worsens, the shares will fall to what investors think is a fair value. But what is fair value? The price at which buyers and sellers are in equilibrium. In such a situation there should be little share price movement. However, when there is uncertainty in the outlook we see the greatest movement in shares. A wise thing to do is to seek response from the charting technique, as it quantifies the hopes and fears of investors in numerical and graphic form that is much easier to quantify than words or sentiment.
In times of uncertainties, I am confronted by feelings of being unable to get out of bed or be active during the day, or simply being unable to relax at all or being consistently sleep-deprived. Many a times, I experience heightened feelings of anxiety or fear for personal safety, which in turn interferes with basic daily activities. It gets worse with experiencing incapacitating hopelessness and despair. Quite often too, there are experiences of radical or abrupt changes in behaviour. Once in a while, I go into thinking about previous personal loss, trauma, or crises to the point of not being able to focus on or do normal daily activities. In dismal circumstances, I experience crying or other strong emotions that are more than the usual response to events in my life. The most damaging is of course the feeling of rage or a desire to be harmful to others or myself
How do I seek responses in times of uncertainty?
When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also add that some things are more nearly certain than others
Since defeats are always more than victories, since sad moments always are more than happy moments and since getting what one desires is rarer than not getting what one dreams of, uncertainty abounds and the feeling of self doubt overwhelms us.
But is this living in total uncertainty any good?
We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything
The key that I have realized is that I as an individual represent only a very minuscule of the entire universe… a small particle of sand in a desert, a drop in the ocean, a leaf in a forest. Recognition of this makes me take a different perspective of life.
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties
It is only I who has to find solutions to my real and perceived problems. Perseverance is only one part of my existence. I have to bring creativity to my thinking and often look at a totally different paradigm.
If I am going to be skeptical, then no new ideas will make it through to me. On the other hand, if I am open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in me, then I cannot distinguish useful ideas from the worthless ones. If I believe that I, a mere mortal, live in a world of uncertainties and the priests or the learned ones are bereft of it, I am mistaken.
People have amazing ways to tackle the uncertainties of their future. Some face the world as it comes. They do not worry even about the next moment, leave aside their future. They work on the premise that every thing about this world is so uncertain that it does not pay to devote their time in finding solutions and in the process forget about enjoying the present life. A few of my father’s friends keep buying new insurance policies almost every year because they are so sure they are going to die the very next day and are so concerned about their wives and their children. My neighbour works on the opposite lines .He blows up his entire salary in ensuring that his family eats the best, wears the best and takes holidays.
I believe that life is not a destination but a journey. And though in a train journey, for example, the timing of arrival at the destination is predetermined, can any one guarantee the same, including the train driver? But more importantly, in the process of thinking about the destination, how often do we forget to enjoy the journey itself?
To seek responses, I rely on stories that show me how others have answered questions of uncertainty while maintaining a fair level of coherence. I find the time to tell the stories of my life. At the same time, I encourage others to tell me the stories of their lives, and sometimes, of other peoples. I often then draw conclusions, many times very comforting. I look towards my parents, teachers, priests and government officials, create, provide, and sometimes revise, experiences, ceremonies and rituals that help me clarify interpretations and communicate more current meanings and ideas. Relationships with others help one to appreciate why others have very different responses to uncertainties.
In summary, the responses that I seek from within to face uncertainty include accepting my feelings and thoughts as normal experiences. I often try to find a constructive way of expressing myself and not hold the thoughts and feelings inside. Talking about the feelings with others can be helpful, but I prefer to express myself in other ways such as writing in a journal. In stressful times, I pray or do other spiritual activities that help me maintain strength and faith. Under any circumstances, I try to practice good self-care—eat a well-balanced diet, get enough sleep and participate in some form of exercise. I also believe the importance of resuming my normal routine, even if it is hard to do so—routine is calming. I set small, achievable daily goals and do them. When things seem to be going out of hands, I seek counseling. But the bottom line always is that I have to be patient with myself and understand that it takes time…that some days will be better than others.
Embracing uncertainty
There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.
Theodore Rubin
I do not accept either. Significantly, if I am to honour God's gift to me of thinking, I need to dispel the fear of the unregenerate mind, affirm a humble and robust intellectual engagement with humanity's attempts to make sense of the world, and embrace uncertainty. As human beings, we all acknowledge our bodies and minds.
The third aspect, our spirit, is often disregarded. My spirit, this intangible thing that makes me who and what I am, thrives when I expand from the conscious to the subconscious mind. Activities like prayer, meditation, contemplation stimulate me. This makes my relationship with myself complete. In order for me to be a whole being, I need all three aspects of myself living in harmony.
