Thursday, March 31, 2011

Trudging Through Uncertain Lives

Our lives are constantly changing. Since our birth, we've been taking in and leaving behind in order to grow and change. Events happen to us and to our environment; we also directly affect our reactions and our environment.

Some people have a direct, hands-on experience of life's uncertainty. We can attempt to find certainty anywhere and fail every time. When we consider anything in our life to be a constant, we set ourselves up for certain disappointment. We've allowed ourselves to become distracted by myths and fantasy and anything but the here and now. This distraction leads to missed opportunities as well as a diminished awareness of current threats.

Imagine you're on a sinking ship. If you're focused on making sure you have an anchor onboard instead of stopping the ship from sinking, you're missing the real threat and not looking for real solutions to that threat.

We're used to looking for that anchor anywhere in our lives and our environment; there's always a reason to not do something. That's what that anchor is, any reason to not focus on right now. Perhaps, this moment right now is completely overwhelming, and the mind is attempting to focus on anything else so we don't feel the truth and the emotional weight of this moment's uncertainty.

Yes, it's scary, but it's the reality of every moment. We need to feel that fear so we can trudge through the uncertainty. Despite any evidence to the contrary, we've been trudging through uncertainty since we've been born. Now is no different; it's just more apparent.

In crisis, if we're focused on anything but this moment, we will not make choices from the highest level of awareness. This lack of awareness will make our choices dull and ineffective instead of sharp and focused.

Raise the bar of your awareness, raise the bar of your effectiveness.