Embracing Uncertainty

Today in my car I had mega-mind. For me that’s when thoughts and ideas start popping up and I get carried away thinking about everything. The car is not the most opportune time, mind you, and I miss my exits a lot. Today though, the thoughts were really leading me to messages I wanted to share with you all and I actually pulled over and scribbled some of them on a napkin I had in my car (if you are wondering why I didn’t use my smartphone in some way, I don’t have an answer for you).

Anyway, one of the things I was thinking about today actually stemmed from a conversation with my neighbor earlier this week. We were catching up, checking in on each other’s families and naturally discussing where to buy toilet paper, and as is the usual nowadays, it transitioned into a conversation about how uncertain the future is and how anxious this makes her.

Of course I told her being anxious because of that made sense…because it does. Two months ago we all saw a future that awaited us filled with plans: A birthday party next weekend, a PTO meeting Wednesday night, girl’s night out two weeks later, a doctor’s appointment the following morning. Our lives were filled with planned *stuff*. That *stuff* helped us build our cozy existence narrative. We live our lives looking forward to much of that stuff. And now…there’s no planned stuff! We had to cancel all of our stuff, and it’s weird!! It literally feels like there is no future…because it isn’t filled with STUFF.

But this is what I said to her: Think about this…tomorrow only feels weird because you are used to being able to plan something, and that doesn’t exist in the way it did before. But even when you could do that, there was never any assurance that those plans would come. We just never really think about it. We schedule something and we intend to do that thing. Even when it falls through, it’s maybe one or two things and you can juggle and adapt and reschedule. We never expected something like this, but the truth is, NOW is what’s here, and that’s the only now there is.

I don’t bring this up to scare people, or make them worry that tomorrow won’t come. I am just saying, if this has taught us anything, it’s that any of our tomorrows can look vastly different than we thought…and it’s always been that way and will be that way again, even when we are able to plan and schedule our little hearts out.

The idea of being present, or living in the now is something most of us have probably heard. You may think about it for a minute and perhaps enjoy a meal with a loved one a little bit more, or put your phone down watching your kid’s recital instead of recording…all in an effort to try to be in the moment. But I am telling you, the world is currently forcing you to take a minute and notice your now. The world went ahead and put the future on hold…so being in the moment is a bit more tangible and may feel easier to reach.

I was on a webinar last week and the speaker said that we aren’t Human Doings, we are Human Beings.

Since we can’t DO, go BE.

Much love,
Lauren