Uncertainty - Spice of Life

We love certainty in life. We want to freeze the future on our terms. When we get up in the morning, we want the day to be bright and sunny. When we open the door, we want the newspaper on the floor. When we drive to work, we want the traffic flowing. At work, we want our bosses to be in good mood and our colleagues to behave well. In meetings, we want everyone to agree with our view points. While negotiating a deal, we want to win without having to make any compromise. While holidaying, we want weather to behave and everything & everybody to comply with our schedule. We want our friends to call us for a weekend outing and all important occasions. We want them to rescue us when we are stuck in a crisis. We want a job that will give us joy every moment. We want acknowledgement and appreciation for every single task. We want people to honour their words and stand by their commitments. We want to find a life partner who would perfectly fit our list of criteria. We want our spouse to never upset us, while ignoring all our faults. We want the market to only go upward after we have invested. We want injuries and sickness never to visit us. We want the world to be fair with us, never mind if we are not.

We believe that we will be happy only when every single wish is fulfilled, as if happiness resides in the certainty of tomorrow. Our happiness, therefore, hangs on the hooks of such ‘wants’ moment-to-moment. One hook falls and happiness is gone.

We need to challenge our belief that certainty in life can give happiness. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were certain of what was coming next? Life is like a thriller in which we can never guess what’s coming next. And, this uncertainty should, indeed, provide excitement. Even if nature wanted to fulfill everyone’s wishes, it could not do so as everyone wants different things from the same situation, event or people. This does not mean we should not expect or plan in life. But, there is no need to be obsessed with our expectations or plans, as if the world would come down crashing if they are not fulfilled. We must understand that nature has its own grand plan accommodating welfare of all the species of life in the entire cosmos. I am reminded of someone saying, “It is good if your wish is fulfilled, but if it is not fulfilled then it is even better because then the nature’s wish is being fulfilled, which will always be good for you in the long run.”

Therefore, we must remain open to any surprise. There is no need to restrict the future with any condition. It is like going to a grand buffet dinner with the determination of eating only 1 or 2 specific dishes. You are going to miss all the other dishes which might be more interesting than your chosen ones. Tomorrow will always come as ‘today’. If we are used to living in ‘tomorrow’ with complaints of ‘today’, we cannot enjoy even if our wishes are fulfilled as we are never present in ‘today’. Such is the power of habit. Hence, we must inculcate the habit of living in ‘today’, no matter what. Everyone must find his/her own ways of establishing this habit. When you are fully present in ‘today’, no opportunity will be missed and life will remain exciting. So, let’s spice-up the life. Let’s seek uncertainty.