Dealing With Uncertainty: A Common Trigger For Anxiety
The Link Between Anxiety And Uncertainty
It is important to truly understand how your mind treats uncertainty so that you are not held prisoner by it.
Dealing with uncertainty can trigger anxiety, tension, and stress, causing us to view the world with hostility and apprehension. Additionally, it can leave us feeling vulnerable and uneasy, making us indecisive, clouding our judgment, and resulting in irrational behavior.
For example, dealing with uncertainty in a relationship, job, or with regard to your health, can cause you to ruminate over the worst-case scenario. You may then act from a place of fear, and project those fears onto the people around you.
Understand The Cause And Effect Of Anxiety And Uncertainty
Contrary to what one may believe, it isn’t the situation you are in which puts you in a state of unease. Instead, it is your mind’s inability to cope with the unknown that impacts you.
Our minds have evolved to keep us safe and ensure our survival, and ambiguity makes it difficult for our minds to know how to protect us. Generally, uncertainty means that there is no definite, predictable, known, or foreseeable outcome.
Thus, the anxiety we feel is not from the situation itself, but because many possibilities exist, and our minds cannot predict what will happen.
In CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), there are 12 Thinking Traps you Need to be Aware Of that will help you identify unhelpful thought patterns when they arise.
Many people prefer to live in a comfort zone because it makes them feel safe and in control.
Some people make every effort to eliminate uncertainty by having specific plans and rituals. Likewise, they don’t want to leave their comfort zone, even when it is damaging.
For instance, growing up in a hostile environment or dating the same type of person—no matter how painful—may be considered “normal” if it is what one is used to. Anything that is different may cause one to feel apprehensive.
Moreover, we adopt our core beliefs, which direct our behaviors, at a very young age. Often we are unaware that these patterns persist because our subconscious has created them out of a desire for control, familiarity, and protection.
To find out what your core beliefs are read: Uncover the Hidden Mysteries of Your Core Beliefs
When something is unknown, you don’t know if you are going to get hurt. Consequently, the mind treats uncertainty the same way it would treat a potential danger.
For example, if you were in the woods and heard a noise in the bushes, the off chance that it was a predator could mean life or death. Uncertainty leaves too many variables open, so rather than take chances, our minds have a better likelihood of protecting us by assuming the worst-case scenario. As a result, we overthink and fear the unknown.
Once a potential problem or obstacle has been identified by the mind, it will begin trying to find a solution.
In modern society, uncertainty rarely stems from rustling in the bushes but can be around material security, psychological well-being, and physical health. When things become unstable, worry can creep in and you may find your mind racing a mile a minute. It begins to replay the situation, collecting information, speculating, and trying to find a solution.
The mind needs to understand, label, formulate, and strategize, so it can solve problems or even the possibility of problems. When it cannot, it feels out of control and assumes the worst outcome, inadvertently creating more stress and anxiety.
The Positive Intention Of Your Anxiety
The trouble is not the unpredictability of life. Instead, it is our mind’s incapacity to deal with the unknown, and its tendency to project the worst outcome that causes us to suffer.
When we see this clearly, we can consciously let go of the mental noise that creates further stress. Although our minds’ positive intention is to protect us and help us solve problems, this is not always conducive to improving our circumstances.
You are not your mind and you do not need to listen to it. This is why it is important to observe mental patterns, as this will help you disidentify from them.
Cultivating The Power Of Self-Awareness
It is important to be aware of the mind’s outdated habits, which create suffering.
This would be more beneficial than allowing yourself to be consumed by mental noise and reinforcing archaic mind patterns that lead to worry and anxiety. You can use reason, logic, and your conscious awareness to choose the best course. In fact, sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing.
Know that once your mind is convinced that a problem exists, it will try to solve it.
Dealing with uncertainty can be like trying to solve a puzzle and not having all the pieces. It would be mad to continue trying to finish it if we could not obtain the missing puzzle pieces. In other words, you may be waiting for answers or waiting for others to make decisions, and the “missing pieces” are simply not with you.
Recognize when you have already looked at all the information available to you, so you will know when your mind is needlessly repeating the same thoughts over and over.
Overthinking and over-analyzing are common with anxiety, if you have this tendency read: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Overthinking
When you notice that your thought patterns become repetitive and thinking is no longer helpful, you can then let them go.
Rest assured, if something does go wrong, your mind will work overtime to help you find a resolution. In the meantime, one must always work with what is in their control and with whatever pieces are available, rather than focusing on the unpredictable outcome.
Recognize the mind’s tendency to expect the worst and overemphasize supposed calamities.
“I don’t know” does not mean “bad outcome”, it just means “I don’t know.” Often things are not as bad as the mind makes them out be, and we don’t need an answer to every question our minds have. The unknown rustling sound in the bushes could be a bird.
When we fear the worst, we must objectively look at the likelihood of our fears materializing by questioning whether there is anything to be afraid of in the first place.
Reasoned thinking can help you move past anxious thoughts. When you step back and look at the big picture, the things you are worried about maybe relatively small and unlikely to happen.
Freedom And Letting Go
Acknowledge and accept that life is uncertain.
Many people want to control and become frustrated when things don’t go according to plan. While probabilities exist, most things are unpredictable, and trying to control everything is a fool’s errand. It is normal to feel anxious when we don’t know what will happen.
While this may create discomfort, we must accept that this is a part of life, because uncertainty isn’t going anywhere. Thus, we cannot count on a volatile and impermanent world to give us assurance and peace.
Furthermore, even with the most detailed plans, life frequently teaches us that we cannot prepare for everything.
This does not mean one should never have any plans, aspirations, or goals, but rather, one should not be attached to results. Once you’ve done all that you can do, and planned all that you can plan, let go of the outcome.
Allow yourself to relax and be at peace, knowing you’ve worked with the variables you can control.
This is how you become strong. Not by expecting certainty from an unpredictable world, but by knowing when it is time to let go. Have patience and allow things to unfold on their own.
Focus on the present moment instead of giving all your attention to the past and future.
Life is like stepping into a thick fog. The way ahead is unclear but with each step, the moment is revealed. When you look back all you can see is the heavy mist and when you look ahead, again things are cloudy and unclear.
The only thing that is clear is the place from which we stand. As one moves through a fog, what once laid ahead is revealed and what has been left behind fades.
This moment is the only thing that we can work with. Everything else is our mind skewing our reality and projecting a web of possibilities, but the mind does not have the capacity to be omnipotent. Dealing with uncertainty is part of life; accept it and get comfortable with it so you can give your heart some rest.
Deal with uncertainty by balancing your fear-based thoughts, with thoughts of loving-kindness
The opposite of fear is love, and in times of uncertainty, we tend to withdraw ourselves. So, be mindful of where you are withholding your love because this is an indication of fear. In addition, be kind and compassionate with yourself. Likewise, sending others kind wishes in times of your own suffering helps open your heart. An open heart is immune to fear.
Read how to Find Your Center in Difficult Times and learn how to let go of fearful thoughts and feelings.
We may never know what blessings await us in the unknown if we remain fearful.
If you don’t have trust, then you’ll always be living in a state of fear and unease waiting for something bad to occur. Our worst fears often exist in our minds; they are not real and may never be real. Even when our fears come to pass; we really don’t know where things will lead. Therefore, one must have the courage to embrace the unknown.
When you surrender to life’s current, things begin to flow in miraculous ways.
Sometimes you have to let things play out on their own, without anticipating the worst. The possibilities are endless when you let go and trust.
Even in an impermanent and unstable world, there is an unshakable peace within you. Let this peace guide you so you do not drown in your fears.
Stay with the current and trust life to carry you where you need to go. Even the roughest currents reach still waters.
Without uncertainty, life would lose its mystery.
Anything can happen and that is the true magic of life. Nature unfolds all by itself without anyone forcing it or arranging it. In fact, the most beautiful things on this planet are not created through planning, organizing, or controlling.
Instead, they arise spontaneously and effortlessly like rolling clouds bringing in the rain, or solar flares shooting through the cosmos and displaying colors in the skies. We only need to look at nature to know that everything is happening all by itself.
Allow yourself to move with life rather than against it.
Truly, we don’t know how things are going to turn out. Some of the best things that have happened to me, came out of difficult times and were the most unexpected. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Have faith. You are more powerful than you know, and life is never against you, for you are one with life and your existence is a miracle.
May you be happy and well,
With full love,
Ravelle
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