Embracing Uncertainty

Don’t let fear hold you back.

Stop worshiping what you know. Click To Tweet

Many times we miss out on new opportunities….because we get used to doing what we know.

Lately, my wife and I had gotten into a rhythm in our parenting. We took our kids to the same places. We did the same things as a family each week. I assumed that was pretty much all there was to do.

I was wrong.

We have some geographical distinctives about our location. It is severely cold where we live. In fact, it snowed here last week. (Yes, it snowed in mid-May.) We allowed ourselves to get used to doing all indoor activities or very brief outdoor activities.

I began to develop tunnel vision. Life consisted of repetitive weekly rhythms. But then something changed.

We noticed it was really warm one day. We also had seen various nature preserves near our house and other locations we frequently visited. But we had never visited any of them.

So we decided to go on a brief walk at one of the nature trails. We brought our sunscreen. We brought some sandwiches and other snacks in case our kids got hungry. We thought we would take a one or two hour walk. Sounds fun, right?

What we thought was a small walking trail was actually not that small at all. Here’s a quick rundown of what we found and experienced:

• A 10 or 20 mile trail.
• There were probably 20 or 30 people riding horses at various locations on the trail.
• Both of my kids got to ride a horse. (For free, I might add!)
• We discovered there were multiple lakes on the trail.
• Someone loaned my daughter a fishing rod, so she could fish for an hour.
• Another group of people had soccer balls and goals and let us play with them.
• We also had fun looking at the flowers and taking pictures.

Why do I share all this?

In General:

• We often limit ourselves due to fear.
• We take things around us for granted.
• We assume we know all there is to know.
• We assume one park is like the rest.

In Business:

• We assume only certain clients will work with us.
• We don’t try new things, because we have never done them before.
• We accept fear as an excuse for failure.
• We accept mediocrity rather than facing our fears.

In Relationships:

• We believe the lie that people can’t change.
• We avoid risks, because we don’t know how they’ll turn out.
• We blame others because owning up to things would expose us to too much risk.
• We assume our perspective is the correct or right one.
• We resist change at the expense of deeper relationships.
• We avoid uncertainty, because if we are honest…the pain of uncertainty scares us more than a non-ideal present.

1) Don’t let what you know limit you.

2) Embrace the uneasiness of uncertainty.

3) Try new things that stretch you (and do it daily).

Are you missing out on life by embracing the fear of uncertainty? Click To Tweet

Do you need to control things or do you control your need for control by taking calculated risks?

No matter what:

Don't let fear hold you back. Click To Tweet