FOUR EASY WAYS TO COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY
So 2023 has already kicked off with an INTENSE bang, while the mood does feel different from the past three, it still has a flavour of Deep Uncertainty that many of us have just never been equipped to deal with.
As someone who has had a lot of early experience with uncertainty and being in the darkness, I feel it necessary to share some knowledge that will help you not to just cope with but to master these unfamiliar states.
1.GROUND INTO THE THINGS YOU DO KNOW FOR CERTAIN
In these changing times of Uncertainty and fear programming it's becoming increasingly difficult to know where we are going individually and as a species. Indeed some people are predicting and preparing or the end of days which is another example of Fear programming, though some amount of prepping is useful to resource yourself - especially your nervous system to be able to cope.
To ground into what you KNOW for certain, things that you can control - like your intake of information, your diet, your movement practices, your work commitments and who you give your time and attention to. The easier it is to do that, the more you can approach the unknown with curiosity. Find what's true and factual for you and stray away from fear.
Pull out your notebook or sketchpad and write or draw ALL the things you KNOW are Real and certain from your life of EXPERIENCING them, not just what you are told to believe. Knowing and believing are very different states.
2.GET COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT
A huge barrier to this inability to embrace the unknown or wander eyes wide open into Darkness - is the privilege of Comfort.
In the west we have many comforts, I should know; from my soft orthopaedic mattress to my spacious warm studio to my thick cosy heavy sheepskin jacket to the abundance of nature on offer here. Westerners have it all - all these cushy, cosy creature comforts of life that we get so damn attached to and cannot live without for fear of a fight with our egos. When others have much less than this, yet are often much happier.
Don't get me wrong; comfort is a beautiful thing, as a bodyworker I know the importance of comfort to feel safe and settle our nervous systems to keep us self - regulated.
HOWEVER those comforts also come with the Comforts of Consumption programming by the people who sell us this shit and keep us in this loop of not enoughness. We never truly need to give things up, instead only tiny sacrifices or life edits are made in the name of progress. But when do we ever get truly uncomfortable enough to question all of it? This whole LIE we living, I mean LIFE we living.
Most of us don't need to! That’s the privilege of comfort that comes with being a Westerner. We are too wrapped up in the layers and layers of our comforts to even need to start to unravel and wander out into the cold without our sheepskin jackets and see those who live without the mattress, the warm homes, and who can't enjoy nature because they're just trying not to die...
We truly need to make it a daily practice to feel deep discomfort - so that our limits, boundaries and sense of self can expand and grow. If you really look at your life’s timeline and see where most change occured it was in those deep moments of discomfort, pain and challenges. So go out and dance with your discomfort!
3.PRACTICE USING YOUR INTUITION
The intuitive process allows you to discover what information, as mentioned above, is based on fact rather than fear. To determine that, I believe you really have to understand your own belief structures , conditioning and psychology to be able to see what's real and what isn't. Put simply, you have to tap into your intuition to be able to understand what feelings are based on actual events and what feelings are contrived in your mind and out of fear.
I always ask myself the following key questions; "Is this real and is this true? Is the information I'm getting based on fear? Or is this real, intuitive information?"
Remembering that while the reality out there maybe REAL, you also need to ask and feel into - Is it TRUE for You?
To develop intuitive skills, you need to learn deep listening and get familiar with your unconscious, to understand flashes of insight when they come and the nature of fleeting thoughts. To remember that we all are born with this sixth sense that we have completely been disconnected from in society due to an emphasis on what's measurable through a scientific lens.
Which brings me to final point of the Mysteries of Life.
4.EMBRACE THE MYSTERY
When we embrace mystery, there's so much creative potential in that place, of not having everything figured out all the time. All great things are born out of the darkness, babies come from a dark womb, creative projects are birthed out of solitude and time spent alone in darkness of your process. Sure it's a difficult ask, as many of us can feel anxious or frustrated from a lack of control. When you actually admit to yourself that MOST of life is truly beyond your control (except for point 1 of the things you know for certain) then it's much easier to drop into the mystery.
Then there's no need to feel anxious as embracing this unknown is essential for healing and spiritual growth. Approaching the mystery with curiosity, humour and a sense of play is absolutely necessary, as without these qualities this year is going to be MENTAL!
Now- 2023- IS the moment to get really comfortable with the unknown; this mindset is empowering for us individually and collectively as a human species facing our collective shadows.
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