How to cope with the unknown

How many times have you just stood there, looking at the wall thinking “what now?”? How many times have laid in bed, trying to sleep, but instead looking up at the ceiling, wondering what might happen next? Fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of what is coming. Light or dark, good days, or bad days? You don’t know and suddenly your mind is full of thoughts. And as you face the uncertainty, you panic, fearful, and distracted.

Is there any way to avoid all that?

Well, even though we all experience uncertainty, there are some people who can handle it better than others. Some of them even have made careers of their ability to “read” uncertain situations. One of their secrets is that they can alter their thoughts when it comes to their uncertainty. All matters are about perspective — how we look things. What if they tend to see things in a more neutral way? Not necessarily as bad or good, but in the form of a challenge.

For most of us, accepting uncertainty is challenging and it takes us far from our comfort zone; which in itself is difficult to cope with. But what if, for once, we just think of it as something interesting rather than a problem. If we turn panic into a more rational way of thinking, this just might be our starting point of alteration. The next phase is to start gathering information about the issue you are not certain about and begin asking questions. By posing and answering them, you will be able to gather information and shape a strategy to cope with the situation.

Some people see uncertainty as motivation. When exposing themselves to uncertain situations, knowing that they might fail, they push themselves more and more, creating success through hard work and determination. And even though sometimes they do fail, they don’t stop. They keep moving on, maybe stronger and more ready this time.

Of course, one of the biggest fears of all about unclear situations is that it feels out of your control. If you accept it and expect uncertainty, you can build a more solid system to deal with it. Build a support network or save things for a rainy day. And have this in mind: things sometimes are high — and sometimes they are low. Uncertainty brings change as well, in order to deal with things. And maybe this, for starters, is not a bad thing after all.

Take, for example, businesses. Businesses adapt, grow, and survive based on the assumption that things can change and they take precautions about it in order to live on and thrive. So, why don’t you treat yourself as a big business?

Try to grow, motivate yourself, and be inspiring through hardship and adversities. There are no guarantees in life after all. Therefore, we must have strategies that we can apply when we face a bumpy road, and who knows; we might be victorious or fall with noise. But one thing is for sure, we learn. And by learning, we become stronger, tougher and wiser. And maybe we come to peace with ourselves because we know we gave our best — we gave it all!